ULAN BATOR, Mongolia (AP) — Ukraine has launched a boycott of international judo events because the Russian team was allowed to compete at the start of Olympic qualifying on Friday.
Judo is one of the few Olympic sports in which Russians can still compete, although they must do so without their flag and officially represent the International Judo Federation (IJF). That goes against the wishes of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which recommends excluding athletes from Russia and its ally Belarus in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Until this week, Russia has stayed away from international judo events citing what the IJF called “logistics and security” concerns, but has entered 24 athletes in the Grand Slam tournament in Mongolia that begins on Friday. That is the first competition that counts towards qualification for the Paris Olympics in 2024.
Ukraine stays away in protest.
“Everyone who follows world sport a little understands that Russian athletes are a key part of this country’s aggressive propaganda policy,” Ukrainian Judo Federation president Mykhailo Koshliak wrote in an open letter dated Thursday. .
“Speaking of Russia and sport, it is by no means possible to say that ‘sport is foreign to politics’. The silence of Russian and Belarusian athletes and coaches supports the war against Ukraine and takes the lives of thousands of Ukrainian citizens.”
Koshliak alleged that 11 members of the Russian team competing in Mongolia were “active representatives of the Russian Armed Forces” and held military rank. Among them is Madina Taimazova, who was congratulated by the Russian Defense Ministry in a statement after winning a bronze medal at the Tokyo Olympics last year, with the rank of senior non-commissioned officer from her.
The IJF has argued that it is avoiding discrimination by allowing the Russians to continue competing and announced on Thursday that it will punish any athlete who shows “political vindication or an unsportsmanlike attitude”.
“The International Judo Federation opposes war, any kind of violence, as well as hatred and discrimination,” IJF Director General Vlad Marinescu said in a statement. “Sport is not politics, sport is a bridge between different cultures. Our values are the values of sport, where there is no room for politics”.
