“The Olympics are the goal of a lifetime…” On the training benches, Maria Zinioukhina does not hide her disillusionment. But the young Russian athlete, 21 years old and already fifteen years of fencing behind her, doesn’t take long to show her determination either. “We won’t be at the Games in Paris next summer, nor probably at the following ones in Los Angeles. But that doesn’t mean I sink into sadness and stop training,” confides the young woman.
As winter approaches, in the Olympic center of Khimki, in a large forest suburb of Moscow, Maria Zinioukhina refuses to brood. She dodges political questions. “Each obstacle makes me stronger on my sporting path”, she evades. And his motivation seems as tough as his sword.
« Anti-Russian plots »
“Here live the champions”, proclaims in large letters one of the slogans plastered on the walls of the modern gymnasium built in Khimki by Ilgar Mamedov, the former Olympic foil champion who became president of the Russian fencing federation. In the country, the political-sporting imbroglio around participation in the Paris Olympics is seen as a « anti-Russian plots ».
On the training slopes, anger is cold. But temporary. “I am no longer preparing for the Games. Too late… In life, I have other goals! We are banned from the Olympics, but I train for myself,” insists Yana Egorian, 29 years old with the certainties of a saber fighter already doubly crowned at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
“Like any champion, I want other medals to go further and higher. But, in Paris, it will no longer be the Olympic party. I will not participate in this kind of examination in hostile land”, says Sofia Pozdniakova, 26, proud of her two gold medals at the Tokyo Games in 2021.
Participation authorized on an individual and neutral basis
None of them appeared on the first lists of the international fencing federation when last March, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) recommended to the authorities of each sport to allow Russian athletes to participate as individuals and neutral, without anthem or flag, without team or management, in the qualifying competitions for the Olympic Games.
Ajar, the door quickly closed for the two fencers as for many other Russian champions. Because the IOC asked not to admit athletes associated with the armed forces. However, Yana Egorian and Sofia Pozdniakova belong to CSKA, the legendary sports club under the army.
15 medals over the last two Olympics
” Pretext ! “, Ilgar Mamedov calmly rails. “In fact, our weakest athletes, having little chance of qualifying, were included in these lists. The best were excluded. They want the Olympics without Russians, without real competition. Politics is used for sporting purposes. »
He who, as an athlete, coach and then president of the federation, has participated in nine Olympics, from Seoul in 1988 to Tokyo in 2021, knows that he will not go to Paris in 2024. “Over the last two Olympics, in fencing, we brought back 15 medals in total, he recalls. They don’t want us because we win. »
In turn, he mixes politics and sport. “When the United States bombed Serbia, were the Americans prevented from participating in the Sydney Games? Afterwards, they continued: Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya… But they are still at the Olympics! »
“I don’t want to change country or club”
Yana Egorian and Sofia Pozdniakova like to cross swords on the fencing rings, but also in the political arena. Yana Egorian, public support for Vladimir Putin in the 2018 presidential election, wants to once again commit to his side for his re-election next year. “His special operation in Ukraine is the right decision because our country is defending itself,” declares the fencer who, of Armenian origin, could have changed her passport to hope to qualify in Paris. ” Out of the question ! I don’t want to change country or club,” she replies, raising her voice.
“I trust our president. The past shows that he makes no mistakes”, adds Sofia Pozdniakova in a softer voice. She appears all the more resolute as she is caught up in her family situation: if her ex-husband, also a fencer, fled to the United States from the Kremlin, her father, a four-time Olympic saber champion, chairs the committee. Russian Olympic Games and serves as a relay for the Kremlin’s sporting thinking. Sofia Pozdniakova knows who she wants to stay loyal to.
Other objectives than the Olympic ones
Deprived of the Olympics, the two champions, just like Maria Zinioukhina and other young hopefuls gathered in Khimki, do not stop working hard. They say they draw their energy from a love of sport and effort. Disciplined, they follow their diet, go to bed early and continue training.
The usual morning session alternates physical preparation alone and sword exercises with their trainer. But they recognize it: it is far from the intensity of their Olympic preparation before Rio or Tokyo. In their sights: the Brics games which are to bring together in June, in Kazan on the banks of the Volga, athletes from this organization from emerging countries (South Africa, Brazil, China, India, Russia, etc.); but above all, in Moscow in September, the “friendship games” to which athletes from all “friendly countries” will be invited.
“For every athlete, you need a goal. For us, it is Kazan and Moscow. Not Paris”, summarizes Dmitri Glotov, main saber coach in the Khimki center. Next summer, he will not watch the Olympics on television. Just like last summer, he barely followed the world fencing championships in Milan.
“Like under the USSR”
The saber duel on July 27 between the Ukrainian Olga Kharlan and the Russian Anna Smirnova nevertheless changed the face of the Olympic world. The first won but, for refusing to shake the second’s hand, she was given a black card, synonymous with disqualification and the destruction of her Olympic chances.
At the last minute, Olga Kharlan was drafted by Thomas Bach, the president of the IOC. Anna Smirnova has since joined the lists of illustrious Russian unknowns who received the status of “neutral individual athlete” after examination of their reputation. But, given her poor results, she has no chance of qualifying for Paris.
“Quite a paradox…”, regrets Dmitri Glotov. “We are like under the USSR: we train in a closed country”, he admits. “My objective is to prepare our athletes so that, when this whole situation is over, they have the level and can resume international competitions without starting from scratch,” he explains, sweaty but with clear ideas after half a day of training. « For ex-Olympic champions, like Yana and Sofia, it’s okay. But this lack of perspective is harder for young people like Maria…”
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The International Olympic Committee under pressure
January 24, 2023: During an interview with Emmanuel Macron, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky demands that Russian and Belarusian athletes be excluded from the Paris 2024 Olympics, under penalty of a boycott by Ukraine.
January 31: in a letter to the Ukrainian Olympic Committee, the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Thomas Bach, believes that a boycott would “against the fundamentals of the Olympic movement”.
28 mars : The IOC recommends that international federations allow the participation of Russians and Belarusians, but only as neutral individual athletes, in international competitions. He postpones his decision for Paris 2024 “at the appropriate time”.
September 6: in an interview with The TeamEmmanuel Macron declares that Russia has no « step to like » at the Paris Olympics.
September 29: The International Paralympic Committee authorizes Russian athletes to participate under a neutral banner.
October 12: the IOC suspends the Russian Olympic Committee for having placed under its authority four organizations from occupied Ukrainian regions.
