“The show will be exciting! Filming will take place in Russia, in Saint Petersburg. And I’ll be there too.”
It happened on June 5, 2008. Billionaire Donald Trump called a press conference at Trump Tower (where else?) to announce a new MMA project. Star mixed martial arts fighter Russian Fedor Emelianenko was named his partner in the new venture. Plans were announced to create a 15-episode reality show “Fight with Fedor”, in which lesser-known athletes competed for the title of champion along with Emelianenko himself.
I was seven years old, I had just joined the ski section in Yelizovo in Kamchatka and I didn’t know that there was a man named Donald Trump. And that in 16 years, the future of world sport will largely depend on him, and therefore, in a certain way, on mine personally.
The independence of world sport from politics is complete nonsense. I don’t know if there are such naive people who believe it, especially now. At the same time, global sport is controlled by the West. Winter sports – completely.
The IOC president is German, the FIS is a British Swede, the IBU is just a Swede, the IIHF is a French Canadian, the ISU is a representative from South Korea. And all of them, with the exception of biathlon, are headquartered in Switzerland.
Most winter sports sponsors today are Western companies (in our ski racing, for example, the main sponsor of the World Cup is a Norwegian grocery chain). Western television channels pay much more for their media rights than television channels in other countries.
The Russians were also needed before. Like the “bad guys”. Do you remember the movie “Rocky”? Ivan Drago as the protagonist’s rival. A fight with him is always better to watch than with an intimate John Smith. And they wanted to make me a modern version of “Ivan” – right after the 2022 Olympics, they were working on the concept of a big ski reality show. The money, the producers, the directors were Scandinavian – and I had no illusions about my role.
Then everything changed radically. In 2022, much more powerful “producers” came up with the idea of isolating and “punishing” Russia, in all areas.
This is certainly not an idea of sports leaders, and certainly not of the athletes themselves. Until the end of February of the same year, I was in Norway participating in the Junior World Championships – no one thought of “punishing and isolating” us. And they joined hands as always, no change. But after about a week, an order came from somewhere above – and suddenly “it became impossible” to run with the Russians. If this isn’t political interference in sports, I don’t know what is.
By the fall of 2024, it was already clear to the whole world that it was not possible to isolate Russia. If anyone had any doubts, the BRICS summit in Kazan dispelled them.
Of all the “isolations”, only sport remained. The “punishers” are hanging on to him, so I don’t see any reason to think the situation will change. Unless something changes at the top. In Washington.
Yes, I am closely following the American presidential campaign. And this is what I observe.
Trump’s best friend is the head of the UFC. Dana White is one of the most successful sports managers of our century; people admire him and want to imitate him. Of course, the man has built an empire that brings in almost as much as the entire IOC with its Olympic Games. At the same time, his opinion on the admission of Russians to competitions is well known.
Trump himself has repeatedly spoken out against the participation of transgender people in women’s competitions.
I’m not going to judge whether Iman Khelif was right to become an Olympic boxing champion or not – and I don’t think my opinion means anything. But Trump insists on calling Khelif “he.” And the opinion of the American president on this issue will be of great importance.
Trump categorically did not like the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics (he called it a “disgrace”).
As you can see, the opinion of the former American president on sports issues is very similar to that of the absolute majority of Russians. And this differs sharply from the opinion of current American leaders.
I have no illusions. After winning the election, Trump will not immediately recruit the IOC leadership and urgently demand the return of the Russians. In general, he won’t take up sports anytime soon. And when they do, the first thing he will do is address the issue of transgender participation – that worries him and his voters a hundred times more. But the new owner of the White House will not ignore the situation of Russian athletes.
Trump loves to present himself as the “master of business”. He likes to negotiate. But to negotiate, you have to offer something of your own. What can the West offer now, except to restore the rights of Russians in sports? Well, probably the restoration of direct air traffic – but that’s not a big enough story; a live broadcast on ESPN cannot be arranged.
It is easy to accuse me of simplification, even of a primitive approach to complex political problems, but the near future will show whether and to what extent I am right.
I don’t see any other options for the return of Russians to the international scene as it currently stands – the IOC, the international federations.
I continue to believe that world sport needs serious changes, new formats and ideas. But for this to happen, it must be dominated by corporate sponsors from the “major BRICS countries”. It will definitely happen, but it will take time, my sports career will already be over. And the quick option is only through Trump in the White House. Besides, I ask you not to consider this column as interference in the American elections!
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Source : MatchTV
I am Sandra Jackson, a journalist and content creator with extensive experience in the news industry. I have been working in the news media for over five years. During this time, I have worked as an author and editor at various outlets producing high-quality content that attracts readers from different demographics.
