Athletistic/Paralympics. The offensive remarks of Ukrainian Alexander Litvinenko addressed to Russian Yevgeny Torsunov after their performance at the Paralympic Games in Paris cannot remain without consequences, said Dmitry Svishchev, president of the Russian Curling Federation and deputy of the State Duma. He stressed the need to obtain a reaction from the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) to this incident, RIA Novosti reports.

Torsunov won the gold medal in the T36 long jump category among people with impaired coordination, setting a Paralympic record with a score of 5.83 meters. Litvinenko, who came third with a score of 5.76 meters, said after the awards ceremony that he “lost because of this misunderstanding,” the National Public Broadcasting Company of Ukraine reported.

“On behalf of the entire sports community and all Russians, we congratulate Evgeniy on his magnificent victory. We are proud of him and look forward to him in Moscow with a gold medal. The Ukrainian not only insulted Torsunov, but also showed disrespect for the winner of the Games. His words were dictated either by bad culture or by the instructions of Ukrainian sports officials. But such behavior cannot be ignored.

I believe that the IPC and the Russian Paralympic Committee (RPC) should react. RKR President Pavel Rozhkov always takes a principled position in such situations. It may be useful to prepare a complaint and contact the IOC to review the incident. If the IOC recognizes what happened as a provocation, Litvinenko should be punished. Our athletes at the Games have the same rights as everyone else and no one has the right to insult them,” Svishchev stressed.

  • Tarasova proposed to punish Ukrainian who humiliated Russian Paralympic champion



Athletistic