Outstanding Soviet figure skater and current State Duma deputy Irina Rodnina expressed her position on the International Olympic Committee (IOC)’s readiness to fully reinstate Russian athletes in international competitions.
The comments were prompted by a New York Times report that, during a meeting in Milan, IOC members declared their readiness to welcome Russia back as a full participant in world sports.
“Is the IOC considering the return of Russian athletes? It’s clear that the boycott, which has been ongoing since 2022, is purely politically motivated. One wonders: why is one country allowed to do so and another not? By and large, the Olympic movement itself doesn’t consider this fair.
Our youth are already being actively encouraged. Of course, the process of full reinstatement is very slow. This isn’t the decision of one or two people. Each sport has its own international federation, composed of different representatives with different opinions.
We see that the process of reinstatement has begun. In some sports, we are already able to perform with the anthem and flag. “In this situation, the influence of Mikhail Degtyarev cannot be overlooked. One of the goals he brought to the post of Minister of Sport was to bring our athletes, federations, and the Olympic Committee back into the global sports family. I think the results of his work are evident,” Rodnina said in an interview with Sport24 correspondent Petr Shatrov.