Former French biathlete Simon Fourcade has defended Russian competitors who have been excluded from international competitions due to the invasion of Ukraine.
He told the French radio station RMC Sport that he considered the move to be counterproductive and that the international federation IBU should not ostracize Russian athletes. His views met with great opposition from the Ukrainian biathlete Dmytra Pidručný, who is currently defending his homeland with a weapon in his hand.
The IBU punished not only Russia but also its friendly Belarus for invading Ukraine. Simon Fourcade’s sympathies for the punished Russian athletes began at the Junior World Championships, where he witnessed a ban on the entry of Russian competitors after the outbreak of war in Ukraine. He claims that athletes are not responsible for the invasion ordered by their country’s government. “It does not mean that I would somehow support the Russian government and what it is doing now. I just wanted to show that we are well aware that they are not to blame and that we can separate it,” he said.
He also doesn’t like the pressure on Russian competitors to speak out against the invasion of Ukraine, which Russia calls a special military operation. “They have a lot to lose, including their freedom,” he said.
In a sharp reaction on social networks, Pidručnyj sent not only Simon, but also his more famous brother Martin Fourcade, “to hell” in the military. “I hope that your children will never experience the pain that Ukrainian children suffer. Children who have left their homes, who have heard explosions, who have seen their mothers being raped and whose relatives have been murdered,” he wrote.
According to him, neither Russian nor Belarusian biathletes are distancing themselves from the actions of their governments in Ukraine. “Since the beginning of the war, only one Russian athlete has written to me to tell me that he is ashamed of what his country is doing, but is afraid for himself and his family and therefore does not speak publicly. For me, silence from Russian and Belarusian athletes means that they chose to support the war, “he said. He added that he regretted supporting Martin Fourcade in the past.
The seven-time World Cup winner Martin Fourcade defended himself. “I understand your anger and sadness, but it doesn’t give you the right to attack anyone because you don’t agree with what his brother said. And if you don’t notice, my name is Martin and I haven’t given any conversations lately,” he said.
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