“Everyone must decide for themselves the question of participation in the Olympic Games in neutral status” – Shishkina

Three-time Olympic synchronized swimming champion Alla Chichkina told that each athlete himself has the right to decide whether to participate in the Paris Games in a neutral status.

Russian athletes can only compete in neutral status at the Paris Games due to the situation in Ukraine. Russian swimmer Evgenia Chikunova has decided not to compete in Paris, as she considers unacceptable the admission conditions proposed by the international federation (World Aquatics) for obtaining neutral status. In addition, the decision not to participate in the Olympic Games was made by the Russian Judo Federation and the Russian Wrestling Federation.

According to the decision of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Russian taekwondo athletes will not participate in the Paris Games, despite having obtained their Olympic license.

— What do you think about the story of your performance under neutral status?

— Everyone must decide for themselves, but I can say that I was furious about the situation in taekwondo, when guys passed the selection, got licenses and were rejected by the IOC. I am just shocked.

— Have you followed the situation with Yulia Efimova?

“I saw that Dima Guberniev said, I saw that he wrote “Water Match”, that Zhenya Korotyshkin helped Yulia. But I didn’t look at it that closely. I was not surprised that Yulia performed in the Bahamas. This is exactly what she likes, judging by social networks.

“But that’s exactly the case when Yulia preferred to skip the flight to the Bahamas, it was just that it was the only tournament left for qualification.

— And here, too, they will argue: someone does not want to fly to the Bahamas, but someone else… There will always be a reason to argue.

— How do you perceive the discussion around Zhenya Chikunova?

— Zhenya is a very thoughtful and intelligent person. I am sure that she weighed the pros and cons when making this decision, “Shishkina said in an interview with .

In December 2023, International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach said the organization would grant individual neutral status to Russian and Belarusian athletes who successfully qualified for the 2024 Summer Games. The athletes will be able to perform in Paris without a flag, anthem, or other national symbols. At the same time, a special commission is verifying the admission of Russian athletes to the Games.

The Paris Olympics will take place from July 26 to August 11, 2024.

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