:watermark(https://f.pmo.ee//logos/4232/4ebd6f5dc62d0c4b6f1961c46e2f0303.png,-2p,-2p,0,18,none)/nginx/o/2023/04/17/15262743t1h28e3.jpg?fit=%2C&ssl=1 "Olympic Champion Oksana Bajula Calls for Ban of Russian Athletes in 2024 Paris Olympics Due to War in Ukraine")
Bajula, who won gold in the women’s individual competition at the Lillehammer Olympic Games in 1994, has published a video on social networks in which she calls on Bach to ban Russia from participating in the 2024 Paris Olympics because of the war in Ukraine.
Previously, the IOC recommended that Russian and Belarusian athletes be returned to international sports if they do not support the war in Ukraine and are not connected to power structures.
“This is my appeal to Thomas Bach. I am Olympic champion Oksana Bajula. Dear Thomas, a full-scale war is going on in Ukraine right now. We Ukrainians did not start it. That’s why we don’t want Russian athletes as neutral participants in the 2024 Olympics. Help us,” said Bajula
45-year-old Bajula married her manager Carlo Farina in 2015 and lives in Las Vegas, USA. The couple is raising eight-year-old daughter Sofia.
Last week, Rio 2016 Olympic discus champion Christoph Harting sharply criticized the IOC president and warned that his decision to allow athletes from Russia and Belarus to compete under a neutral flag could have very tragic consequences.
He told “Sport Bild” that Bach has a good relationship with Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, who is accused of serious crimes, which is why there is such a welcome.
