President of the Russian Fencing Federation (RFF) and head coach of the Russian national team Ilgar Mamedov told that he considers the situation of exclusion of Russian athletes from participation in international competitions stupid.
Since 2022, Russian athletes in many sports have not competed on the international stage. At the end of March 2023, the International Olympic Committee announced recommendations for the admission of Russian and Belarusian athletes to international competitions. They include individual admission, neutral status, banning participation in team sports, banning athletes associated with security forces or who have expressed support for the SVO from participating.
— What is the most important thing you learned from the Russian president’s speech at the “Russia is a sports power” forum?
— The most important thing is “love what you do, do it professionally and believe in good”.
Thoughts materialize, so we must believe in the best and we will have the best. We see how the sport grows year after year throughout the country. It was said that this or that city was the sports capital of Russia, and then another. But today, almost every city can talk about it with honor and pride.
Forums like “Russia is a sports power” are useful and important; people meet there, communicate and exchange their opinions. And the sporting component that exists here is no longer just sporting, it is also sporting and political. If the president of a country takes part in the “Russia is a sports power” forums every year, this says a lot, it means that special attention is paid to it.
The task of our federation is to develop fencing throughout Russia. A luxurious palace was opened in Ufa, children came to the opening with sparkling eyes, eager to train and participate in competitions.
— When choosing a sport, children are guided by great victories and bright names of athletes. Will Sophie the Great continue to compete?
— After each Olympic Games where we played successfully, where I was head coach – in Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo – we have a boom in fencing, everyone wants to practice this sport. Usually coaches look for where to find athletes, but here the children themselves come to become fencing athletes.
As for Sonya the Great, of course, in this situation, when there are no international starts for her, because she, like many of our other strongest athletes, is excommunicated from the international scene, this n It’s not easy for her.
— Excommunication for belonging to CSKA?
– Not just for that. For example, I am a reserve colonel, retired since 2010, but for 2 years and 8 months I have also not gone anywhere to competitions. It’s some kind of stupidity when leading athletes and the head coach cannot participate in international competitions! Nothing, we’ll wait for better times, and when everything returns to normal, we’ll see how it goes.
— The big girl isn’t retiring from her career?
“Not yet,” Mamedov 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.
