In the Spartakiad there was a scandal even before the start. Unexpected ban for Belarusian biathletes
Batraz Tomaev February 6, 2024, 20:15 Moscow time Audio version: Your browser does not support the audio element.
The Ministry of Sports refers to the regulations. Why is this in the regulations?
The Spartakiad of the strongest has not yet started and the first scandal has already occurred. The organizers, the Belarusian biathletes and Dmitry Guberniev add fuel to the fire. A vigorous cocktail that can raise any rating.
“We are incredibly hospitable hosts”
Another reason for the commotion surrounding the biathlon tournament at the Spartakiad was the exclusion of Belarusian skiers from the mass start. Commentator Dmitry Guberniev was the first to draw attention to this on his Telegram channel.
“Belarusians will not participate in the mass start of the biathlon Spartakiad – order of the Ministry of Sports… We are fantastic and hospitable hosts! But there is still time to fix everything so as not to look like complete fools…” he wrote.
At first, Belarusians were not allowed to attend the Spartakiad:
Why can’t Belarusians compete in Spartakiad? Doesn’t Russia need strong rivals?
In fact, according to the newspapers, Belarusian biathletes will run in all races, except for the 30-person race from the general start. The first questions were addressed to the Russian Biathlon Union. Everyone remembered that at the end of the 2022/2023 season there was also no place for athletes from a friendly state in the grand mass start of the Russian Championship. Then the RBU said directly: priority is given to Russian biathletes. And they were right, because according to the documents, Belarusians participate in the races if there are free places. These are Russian releases, right? So why should Russians lose seats, even to their Belarusian brothers?
But of course, the neighbors were still taken into account. Since then, 60 biathletes were included in the preliminary departure protocol and 23 in the reserve category. Of these 23 biathletes, eight represented Belarus.
Details of that ambiguous story:
“There is a big scandal brewing.” Why were Belarusian biathletes not allowed to compete in Russia?
On the day of departure, the number of participants was noticeably reduced: 53 athletes confirmed the start, but there was still no place for the Belarusians. I remember Dinara Alimbekova-Smolskaya’s ironic reaction to this situation:
It was “interesting” to see the mass start without our boys, who were not allowed by the judges’ decision. And they didn’t even find 60 participants,” the athlete wrote on her social media page.
“Spartakiad is an all-Russian competition”
It seems that in the history of the admission of Belarusians into the Spartakiad, this story has gone to the second round. But it was not the SBR that stepped on the rake, but the Russian Sports Ministry. Probably, now they have decided that in the sprint, pursuit and relay races the Belarusian participants do not in any way oppress the Russians, but in the mass start they can leave someone not only without victory, but even without the opportunity to compete.
Well, or a more prosaic version. If Belarusians compete in the Spartakiad in a certain sense “out of competition”, then the system of selection for the race from a general start “out of competition” cannot exist. Bureaucracy, where to go?
The Belarusians motivate Latypov. Is it bad?
Latypov: I am glad that Belarusians perform in Spartakiad
The statement from the Russian Sports Ministry, published in response to the commotion, does not explain anything, but indirectly confirms this version.
“The Spartakiad is, first of all, an all-Russian competition organized for teams of the constituent entities of Russia and an opportunity to see the sports reserve for the further formation of national teams of the Russian Federation and the organization of the training process . ”, this is an excerpt from the statement the department gave to Match TV.
The logic of the actions of the Ministry of Sports is clear. But is it fair?
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