Russia’s Strategy on Olympic Participation: Why Boycotting the IOC Isn’t the Answer

The champion of the Olympics, the deputy head of the State Duma, Svetlana Zhurova, believes that Russia does not need to withdraw from the International Olympic Committee and announce a boycott.

“The position of not leaving the IOC is correct, because if we start a boycott, we will never go back there. But we must try to stick to our line and express our position. And any boycott will throw Russia back for a certain number of Olympics, and the IOC will certainly take advantage of this to say that we are to blame for leaving.

Until we were completely stopped, and this is a big difference. If the IOC eliminated Russia, something had to be thought of. And boycott efforts are now severely blocked by the IOC. Russia must now make its own competitions and follow a parallel course.

This must be done until the time when we decide for ourselves that we must return to the international agenda. And for this there must be conditions suitable for Russia.

For now, with this idea, the IOC does not have to do anything: neither move closer nor move away. Neutrality is the best state for Russia for now”, – said the member of parliament to the Sport24 portal.

How true and logical everything is. If athletes are performing in a neutral individual status, without national recognition, anthem, flag and emblem, their country of residence must adhere to neutral tactics.

It is another question that there is such a mess around the power of sports that was once extremely tired already, and it is time to make “dreadful” decisions.

At the same time, Honorary Coach of the USSR Tatiana Tarasova share her opinion on “how it is with them and us”:

“In the USA, sports are paid, but I cannot say that it is now free in Russia. The price may be different, but so are parents’ salaries. In our country too, sports now cost a little money. I think this is normal, because you have to pay money to the coaches for their position, and then you also have to rent a stadium. Everything costs money.

It seems to me that Russia is a more athletic country than the United States. Americans may think this is their country. And I think we are more athletic. This is reflected in the general level of the population involved in sport.”

At the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, Team USA won 126 medals (40 gold, 44 silver, 42 bronze), winning the final medal count. Russia, due to international sanctions, was represented by 15 neutral athletes who won one silver.

And finally – selected excerpts from an interview with a three-time Olympic champion in figure skating, deputy head of the State Duma of the Russian Federation Irina Rodnina “Sport-Express” publication:

– How long will the echo of doping scandals related to Russian sports?

“This is the thing that worries me the most. ” I won three Olympics and avoided all doping scandals. And the virtues of the athletes of that time were purer. But even this is now being questioned, as someone has come up with the idea that something like this could slip through. Do you understand what the situation is?

– How do you get rid of this path?

– Difficult. First, this can only be done with new athletes and new products. Secondly, a question for all our structures: how can such a person Rodchenkovcould it be lost? At first they encouraged everything he did. If you listen to him, he was one of the first to encourage athletes and coaches. But then he admitted honestly, he stole a lot of information and gave it to the country and the athletes.

Here I have a big question: how are people who can act completely uncontrolled allowed to deal with issues, if not state secrets, then at least state responsibility? He should be condemned for the millions of dollars in damage he has done to the country and to the image of athletes and coaches.

– A sad story for Russian sports.

– It is a long history, when studies were not so complete, the requirements were slightly different. We may be doing a weak intelligence job against doping within the country. A very large section of coaches, athletes and journalists who write about sports only know about it. The worst thing is that the parents don’t know anything. It is our collective illiteracy that then causes mistakes. And these mistakes cost the country dearly. Then we start comparing: Americans can do it, but we can’t.

The coach explained to me a long time ago, when I told him once that I was no worse than my opponent. He said that we, Soviet athletes, would not be allowed to win if we were even stronger. They will only come back when we are two heads stronger. This means that this is how we must prepare our athletes – it is called psychological work.

– Has the athlete education system changed now?

– There is no need to compare with the Soviet era. These are completely different periods within the country, different Olympic Games. In each sport, the rules, requirements and conditions changed. Then it is no longer possible to compare.

It is relevant to recall here that in the summer of 2023 the former head of the anti-drug laboratory in Moscow Grigory Rodchenkov announced that he had finished work on a second book dedicated to drugs in Russian sports. There is a new “job” called “Dope. Forbidden Pages,” based on diaries taken from Russia. The spy emigrated to the United States in 2015 and published his first book in 2020.