“We need to take sport out of the political context. Imagine if crazy athletes start shooting at each other on the biathlon track” – Dmitry Vasiliev

Double Olympic champion in biathlon Dmitry Vasiliev spoke about the situation with the non-admission of Russian athletes to participate in international competitions, and also stated the need to “take” sport out of the political context.

A native of the Khabarovsk Territory, biathlete Ekaterina Bekh, who previously represented Russia at international competitions, made her debut with the Ukrainian national team at the World Cup in the 2020/21 season. In April this year, the athlete was expelled from the Ukrainian national team. In August it became known that she would play for Russia again.

– Until February 24, life went on as usual and everything was fine. After the 24th, it is no longer necessary to appeal to common sense because hotheads express things that cannot be commented on.

Transitions (athletes) from Russia to Ukraine, to Belarus, Moldova, Romania were commonplace. No one has ever drawn the political aspect of this. I think, although it is almost impossible, but we have to take sport out of the political context. Maybe this assumption will bring a smile, but what if crazy athletes start shooting at each other on the track?

Several times I gave definitions to Mr. (Thomas) Bach (head of the International Olympic Committee (IOC)), who, in my opinion, is the main pest and destroyer of the Olympic movement, which calls for the withdrawal of the Russians from the competitions in all sports,” Vasiliev said during a “There is a theme!” program on MatchTV.

At the end of February, the IOC Executive Board recommended that international federations withdraw Russian athletes from participating in competitions due to the situation in Ukraine. In early August, Bach said the recommendations remained the same.