Russian swimming champion Ivan Kozhakin, in an interview with , said that he would look for sponsors to participate in international tournaments in neutral status.
On Tuesday, Kozhakin told that he had been granted neutrality status. Earlier, the 27-year-old athlete said that his main goal is the 2025 World Championships, which will be held this summer in Singapore.
— You missed the Olympics, now you have obtained neutral status. We have already collected all the sarcasms in the comments, and I quote: “Did you miss the Olympics for fun?
—And I have read such comments. I’m calm, I don’t delve into it. We must move forward without regrets. The World Championships are planned for next year. Of course, the idea arose to try to qualify for the World Cup in Singapore, but applications are available until October 1st.
— Now each stage of organizing the process takes more time.
“That’s why I took neutral status in advance, to be able to plan everything well, so that everything goes smoothly, so that there is a start to qualify. So that it would not be like Yulia Efimova, when she had to bother organizing the selection.
If there is nothing on the horizon for the Russian team to return to the world stage, I will play in neutral status. I take this very seriously. The fate of an athlete is in the hands of the athlete himself.
– All this is expensive. Doesn’t that scare you?
– It’s scary. I am counting on local support – I will look for sponsors. I can’t do it alone, I have a family and a child, I have my own expenses that won’t go away. Everything must be planned correctly, that’s why I took neutral status for next year, ”Kozhakin told .
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Source : MatchTV
I’m John White and I’m an experienced journalist working in the news industry. My specialty is covering sports news, which I’ve been doing for over 6 years now. During this time, I have worked as an author with Athletistic, a popular online news website focusing on sports topics.
