Russia suddenly has a chance to win Olympic gold. Who can win it?
Andrey Shitikhin July 12, 2024, 15:45 Moscow time Audio version: Your browser does not support the audio element.
On her way to Paris, Angela Bladtseva won the World Championships and at the same time passed the IOC commission’s tests.
The Russian springboard diver has become the absolute winner of the World Cup. 18-year-old Angela Bladtseva has gone from a girl whose successes were known only to a very small circle of specialists overnight to perhaps the main hope for a medal at the 2024 Olympic Games. The Russian springboard diver has not had such a chance of success since the time of Irina Karavaeva.
Bladtseva loudly declared herself in 2017, when she made her debut at the world championships in the junior category and immediately became the champion. At the same time, she was celebrated by the President of the Russian Trampoline Federation Nikolai Makarov, but the athlete performed in the age category of 11-12 years!
Will the Olympic Games be held in France?
“Bach is stunned by Macron’s antics.” In France, there is talk of postponing the Olympic Games
Many athletes who started brilliantly in difficult coordination events later ended their careers quietly and peacefully. But not Bladtseva. The categories changed, but Angela, who improved her skills with each start under the guidance of her constant coach Elena Fedorenchik, continued to win.
In 2019, she performed brilliantly at the Student Spartakiad, defeating all her rivals, including her friend from the St. Petersburg national team, Daria Nazukova, with whom she later took gold in synchronized diving. Bladtseva was the undisputed leader at her age, winning tournament after tournament, and she did not lose her way when she moved to the adult level.
Last season, the young athlete won the Russian Cup in adult competitions, took bronze at the national championship and won several international tournaments where Russians could play without restrictions. For example, the Bolivarian Games in Venezuela.
Angela Bladtseva
Photo: trampoline.ru
In the current season, Bladtseva was granted neutral status and made her debut at the World Cup. True, after her confession, representatives of Ukraine, whom the IOC president had ordered to monitor the activity of Russians on social networks and in general, found out that Angela allegedly performed at the Russian tournament with the symbol “Z” and the inscription “as a background. We do not abandon our own.” Naturally, this information was sent to the IOC and the International Federation, but they did not react.
At the World Cup, Bladtseva performed brilliantly, immediately meeting the qualification standard for the Paris Olympics: she took second place at the Baku stage, ahead of her teammate Yana Lebedeva. In Switzerland, Angela won, in Portugal she finished second again and only once did she fail to make it into the top three. Winning the overall standings is a significant achievement, especially in her debut year.
There will be no Russians at the Paris Olympics, only neutrals will act:
The IOC has achieved its goal: none of the Russian athletes will be at the Olympics.
To date, Bladtseva has passed all the IOC’s filtering commissions and received an invitation to the Olympics, which she accepted. On July 29, she will fly to Paris; all expenses in the case of neutral athletes, as expected, were covered by the organizers. On August 2, the Russian athlete will compete for gold at the Olympic Games. And she has every chance to repeat the achievement of Irina Karavaeva, who won in 2000 in Sydney, when trampolining was included in the Olympic program for the first time.
