FIG ends ban on Russia and Belarus gymnasts (effective January 1, 2024)

[Jerkin]

Who needs government propaganda when western sports fans will happily tell us “I think you must be mistaken”

Reading is fundamental. Nowhere in that statement did I say that you’re mistaken. I’m just far more inclined to believe what Russian tennis players have said about their Federation since long before the war over some random person on an internet forum.

You are certainly mistaken on the reasons why tennis governing bodies have allowed Russians to continue playing though.

 

[JDB]

European Gymnastics will make a decision in December regarding Russia and Belarus’ 2024 status.

European Gymnastics

European Gymnastics counts 50 national member federations. It is a sports organisation, which reaches far beyond the borders of political Europe but nevertheless bears the idea of a united gymnastics nation. As guarantor of interests of its more than 10 000 000 gymnasts, European Gymnastics...

www.europeangymnastics.com

Yesterday Ukraine announced the government boycott policy no longer applies to Russians and Belarusians competing as unaffiliated athletes.

Міністерство молоді та спорту України - Про деякі питання участі офіційних делегацій національних збірних команд України у міжнародних змаганнях з олімпійських, неолімпійських видів спорту та видів спорту осіб з інвалідністю

Про деякі питання участі офіційних делегацій національних збірних команд України у міжнародних змаганнях з олімпійських, неолімпійських видів спорту та видів спорту осіб з інвалідністю

mms.gov.ua

 

[CameliasFingerpaint]

Ukrainian disqualified for refusing Russian's handshake

Ukrainian fencer Olga Kharlan is disqualified from the World Fencing Championships for refusing to shake hands with Russian Anna Smirnova.

www.bbc.co.uk

The inclusion of so-called “neutral” Russian athletes is off to a great start…

 

[MaryClare]

What exactly has Smirnova done wrong? I can’t see anything that suggests she behaved in an unacceptable manner. All the Ukrainian sports ministry has been able to come up with was “pictured with a Russian soldier”. That suggests that she hasn’t said or done anything that supports the war. For many Russian athletes, there are plenty of examples of social media posts, z symbols, attending rallies etc. It would appear that Smirnova has been far less supportive of Russian activities in Ukraine than many other Russian athletes.

If Ukrainian athletes still strongly feel that no Russian nationals should be completely, then absolutely they should boycott, as one male fencer did do so. I’m sure that athletes of other countries will join them if this is the popular view

 

[JDB]

Olha Kharlan offered a blade tap after the match which has been acceptable post-match acknowledgement for the past few years.



Anna Smirnova went out of her way to get Kharlan disqualified due to not doing an acknowledgment on her terms. And Smirnova still wasn’t allowed to advance to the next round. That’s quite petty and poor sportsmanship. Israeli athletes receive the same treatment at competitions and still don’t act this way. Next year Russian gymnasts should hold themselves to a higher standard of sportsmanship than Smirnova’s.

 

[MissBlaineWilson]

Anna Smirnova went out of her way to get Kharlan disqualified due to not doing an acknowledgment on her terms. And Smirnova still wasn’t allowed to advance to the next round

What despicable, arrogant behavior from Smirnova, and not at all atypical, sadly.

 

[ArnoldRimmer]

Quite. What a repulsive course of action she chose.

 

[Doug1233]

then absolutely they should boycott

You have this completely the wrong way around.

 

[hmmmm]

Could Kharlan just claim her reluctance to shake was due to being ‘covid safe’?

 

[RAFIKI]

IOC issues invitation to Ukrainian fencer disqualified for anti-Russia protest

Olha Kharlan gets ‘unique exception’ in Olympic qualifying procedures after she refused to shake Russian opponent’s hand

www.theguardian.com

 

[ArnoldRimmer]

Thank fuck for that.

 

[MaryClare]

Why? If Ukrainian athletes have the support of even a minority of other athletes they can easily make things very difficult for sports governing bodies

 

[Passion]

IOC issues invitation to Ukrainian fencer disqualified for anti-Russia protest | Olympic Games | The Guardian

“The letter was copied to the Ukrainian fencing federation, its national Olympic committee and the International Fencing Federation, which had disqualified Kharlan from the world fencing championship in Milan on Thursday, after she had offered to touch sabres but not shake hands with the Russian fencer she had beaten, Anna Smirnova. Smirnova staged a 50-minute protest on the fencing piste in protest at the snub.”

 

[rlayt]

If Ukrainian athletes have the support of even a minority of other athletes they can easily make things very difficult for sports governing bodies

Why should athletes have to make things difficult for sports federations before sports federations do something about a clear case where an athlete should or should not be allowed to compete?

 

[ArnoldRimmer]

What a hilariously pathetic loser toddler. I’m revelling in her impotent whingeing.

 

[JDB]

The FIG uploaded rules and conditions.

https://www.gymnastics.sport/site/rules/Ad-hoc_rules.pdf

 

[MaryClare]

I can’t see the athletes going for this personally. The colour rules about attire and hand apparatus seem very over the top and for RG, detrimental (it’s very difficult to see a plain white apparatus under arena lighting)

 

[Denn]

It will be interesting to see who applies.

 

[arabiandoublefront]

It will be interesting to see who applies.

Who can apply in the first place? It seems like quite a few have been supportive of the war.

 

[MaryClare]

Who can apply in the first place? It seems like quite a few have been supportive of the war.

It’s definitely harder for artistic gymnasts since many of them train at clubs that are affiliated with the armed forces. I don’t know how they will evaluate athletes training at dynamo in Moscow, since it is a privately owned organisation that retains the dynamo name but has had no links to law enforcement organisations in over 20 years.

But this is a FIG directive, so it covers all disciplines and in most disciplines athletes will only face an issue if they have supported government activities in Ukraine.

I would be surprised if the FIG actually prevents anyone based on social media posts, it’s impossible for them to prove who actually made the post. The FIG does not have the manpower nor the expertise to put this into practice. Are they going to have politically neutral Russian translators going through everyone’s social media? I imagine that it is there as a deterrent, much like the rules around uniforms.