Double Olympic champion in biathlon, deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation Sergei Chepikov on the air of the show “There is a subject!” on the channel, regarding the admission of Russian athletes to international competitions, he called not to divide society into two camps.
At the end of March, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced recommendations for the admission of Russian and Belarusian athletes to international competitions. Recommendations include individual admission, neutral status, banning participation in team sports, and banning the participation of athletes associated with security forces or who have expressed support for the SVO. No decision has yet been made regarding the participation of Russians and Belarusians in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
— There is no need to discuss the issue of admitting Russian athletes and there is no need to divide society into two camps. The decision must be made at a high political level, by the President of the Russian Federation, the leadership of the ROC (Russian Olympic Committee). A decision will be made to go to the Olympics, which means we have to go.
When I was little, there were the Lake Placid Games. We must worry about our new generation. We admired the generation that participated in the Olympic Games. We took the example of (Anatoly) Alyabyev, (Nikolai) Zimyatov, (Alexander) Tikhonov. Our people will not perform well now; new generations will have no one to turn to.
It is clear that if they force you to sign a document against the SVO, you do not need to participate. It is a betrayal of the country, the people and those who are now on the front lines.
—What does victory mean to you? When is it?
— For me, victory is when, on a global scale, everyone has equal rights, when there is no domination by anyone. Whether it’s sports, politics or other sectors. All countries develop harmoniously, help each other and compete, but this should not result in aggressive actions.
— What does the Fatherland mean to you?
– This is my country, my childhood, my city, where she passed, where I constantly want to return. I think that anyone who has taken their first steps in a sports section or a school somewhere always wants to return to these places. And the homeland is the people around me, the Russian people with whom I am friends, my friends, my parents, my children,” Chepikov said on .
Shepikov is 56 years old. In addition to gold from two Olympic Games (1988, 1994), he has two victories at the world championships (1989, 2006). He became the first winner of the Biathlon World Cup in the history of the Russian Federation.
Source : MatchTV
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