The President of the Russian Tennis Federation said: Mirra Andreeva And Diane Schneider She might not have qualified for the 2024 Olympics in Paris if several Russian team leaders had not refused to compete.
Andreeva, 17, and Schneider, 20, won Olympic silver in the doubles event. It is the only medal awarded to Russian athletes at the 2024 Games. A total of 15 Russians participated in the Olympics; they competed in neutral status.
— This is already my 19th Olympic Games, so I know the selection criteria for the Games very well. Tennis has its own system; they are selected only by ranking. If someone refuses, the next athlete in line takes his place. We did not force anyone to participate. Since the suspension of the activities of the Russian Tennis Federation, the selection process was of an individual nature. We did not influence him in any way, we only provided him with assistance in obtaining a visa. We sent data to the International Tennis Federation for each of our athletes included in the world’s top 150. They were all tested and given the green light.
When Rublev, Khachanov, Samsonova, Kasatkina, Kalinskaya refused and Kudermetova did not receive a visa, we already had guys to replace them. Schneider was one of the last in the ranking. And their duet with Andreeva might not have made it to the competition category due to insufficient points. If our strongest had played, these girls probably would not have reached the Olympics, since they were part of our third team. As a result, it so happened that these young girls ended up in Paris and performed brilliantly there. This served them well in shaping their playing qualities in the future. Nobody expected such a performance from them. They could have taken the gold, but it was just a bit short. Safiullin was also part of the team, which played the best tournament I have seen them play.
Why did Rublev, Khachanov and others refuse? Those who already have Olympic medals in their collection refused. I guess that’s what they thought. Since they already have awards, why not give other athletes a chance. Again, we didn’t impose anything on anyone,” he said. Tarpishchev “Soviet sport”.
In addition to Andreeva and Schneider, Daniil Medvedev, Roman Safiullin, Pavel Kotov, Ekaterina Alexandrova and Elena Vesnina are taking part in the 2024 Olympic Games.
The games in Paris ended on August 11.
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Source : MatchTV
I’m Rose Brown , a journalist and writer with over 10 years of experience in the news industry. I specialize in covering tennis-related news for Athletistic, a leading sports media website. My writing is highly regarded for its quick turnaround and accuracy, as well as my ability to tell compelling stories about the sport.
