President of the Russian Artistic Gymnastics Federation (FSGR) Vasily Titov announced that Russian gymnasts were denied neutral status to perform at the qualifiers and Olympic Games in Paris. His words are quoted RIA News.
“We will not participate in the selection for the Olympic Games because none of the Russian gymnasts wanted to receive neutral status. And none of them applied to participate in the tournament in Baku in this status, so no one went to it. This is a conscious choice of our athletes and coaches. This tournament was part of the qualifying selection for the Olympics,” said Titov.
Russian gymnasts did not perform at the World Cup stages in Cairo (Egypt) and Cottbus (Germany). They will not perform on stage in Baku (Azerbaijan). This led to them losing their chance to qualify for the Olympic Games in Paris.
On March 4, 2022, the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) decided to ban Russians and Belarusians from participating in competitions under its auspices due to the situation in Ukraine. As of January 1, 2024, the restrictions expire.
On December 8, 2023, the International Olympic Committee allowed athletes from Russia to participate in the 2024 Olympic Games with neutral status.
Putin before statedThat the Olympics have lost a lot without the Russians.