– I think they have to think before they speak, says the Ukrainian ski jumper Vitaliy Kalinichenko about the IOC. On Wednesday, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) shared a statement in which they claim that the “vast majority” of athlete representatives want Russia and Belarus to return to international competitions. It has caused strong reactions, and Ukrainian athletes in particular are outraged by the news. – It is impossible, because they kill people in our country, says Kalinichenko, and is supported by compatriot Yevhen Marusiak: – It would have been impossible to participate together with those who attacked Ukraine. Marusiak set a new Ukrainian record in ski flying on Sunday when he qualified for the final round for the first time. – This is about lives Ukrainian Grygorii Vovchynskyi does not take the IOC’s statement lightly either. – I do not agree that they should be allowed back in. I know of many athletes who support the war. When the war is over and Russia has withdrawn, they are welcome back. Not before. PROVIDED: Grygorii Vovchynskyi. Photo: KARL NILSSON / Karl Nilsson Vovchynskyi competed in both cross-country skiing and biathlon during the World Ski Championships for para athletes in Östersund, where he took silver in Friday’s 12.5-kilometer race. – What do you have to say to the IOC members who are considering letting back the Russian athletes? – I have a friend who died in the war. I used to play football with him, we went cross-country skiing together. Now he has been killed by Russian soldiers. Please, this is about life, says Vovchynskyi to news. Warns of boycott Biathlete Dmytro Pidruchny is also shaken by the recent statement. – This statement from the IOC is unacceptable, wrote the former world champion in an e-mail to news. OFFICER: Dmytro Pidruchnyi. Photo: Dmytro Pidruchnyj / Instagram Pidruchnyj served in the Ukrainian military in the first months of the war, but like a number of athletes he was given leave to compete. He made a comeback in the World Cup in Kontiolahti, but injured himself and is now rehabilitating in Obertiliach in Austria as it is not possible to do so in Ukraine. – Today, I don’t know any Ukrainian athletes who want to compete together with representatives from these countries. Many colleagues from other countries are also not ready to compete with Russians and Belarusians, he writes. The 31-year-old believes it is pointless to talk about a possible return to Russia as long as the war continues in full swing. – I do not want to compete with Russian and Belarusian athletes. I hope that the International Biathlon Union (IBU) has the courage not to allow it. If it turns out that they are allowed, I will boycott all competitions in which athletes from these countries will participate. The Norwegian Athletes’ Committee was also represented at the relevant IOC meeting, where they advocated that athletes should not be discriminated against on the basis of passports. Pidruchnyi does not buy this argument. – The problem is not what passport they have. The fact is that almost all Russian and Belarusian sportsmen support military actions in Ukraine, even if it is not public. Russia uses sport in politics – it is an arena for propaganda. Many Russian athletes publicly support the war. Therefore, I believe that the argument that you cannot “discriminate on the basis of an athlete’s passport” is meaningless, because sport is not shielded from politics.
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