The Russian wrestling federation said today that its Olympic wrestlers have unanimously refused to go to Paris, condemning "unfounded restrictions".
"We do not accept the unsportsmanlike principle of selection on which the International Olympic Committee (IOC) relied when forming its list of authorized athletes and whose aim is to undermine the unity of our team," the press release states.
"Russian wrestlers managed to get 16 Olympic licenses out of 18 possible, under the conditions of threats of sanctions and unfounded restrictions," the statement said.
But, on its list of Russian wrestlers authorized to participate, the IOC eventually kept only ten, excluding the most successful ones, including two-time Olympic champion Abdulrashid Sadulayev and two-time world champion Zaur Uguyev.
Thus, "the unique world of wrestling lost its last chance to see the competition between the strongest at the Olympic Games", announced the Russian Wrestling Federation.
Deprived of their flag and anthem due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, many Russian athletes have already decided to withdraw from the Olympics, condemning the "discriminatory criteria of the IOC".
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