Becoming an Olympic champion was Russian Kliment Kolesnikov’s lifelong dream, but not at all costs. At 23, this rising swimming star will not go to the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, due to the “unacceptable” conditions of the IOC.
“No, I’m not sad,” says this tall brunette with a shy smile, bronze and silver medalist at the Tokyo Games. “To date, under current conditions, for me, it is unacceptable” to participate in the 2024 Olympics, assures Kliment Kolesnikov, in an interview given to AFP on the sidelines of the recent swimming competitions in Saint Petersburg, the former imperial capital.
At the beginning of December, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) authorized Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate in the Paris Games (July 26-August 11) on the condition that they compete under a neutral banner, excluding team events, and that they do not have not actively supported the Russian offensive in Ukraine and that they have cleared the qualification hurdle. To date, there are only 11 in this case, eight Russians and three Belarusians, against around sixty Ukrainians, according to the IOC.
” Black sheep “
If Russia, which denounced “discriminatory” criteria, has not yet decided whether or not it recommends that its athletes go to Paris, Kliment Kolesnikov has already made his choice. “I decided that for me personally, it would not be possible to participate in the Olympic Games under these conditions,” said the 100m backstroke, 100m freestyle and 50m freestyle specialist, explaining that he did not want to be a “black sheep.” » among the other athletes who will come to the French capital next summer.
“The other guys are participating, competing as if nothing had happened, and we will not have the right to have a delegation, nor a flag or anthem,” adds the 50 world record holder. m back, while young athletes gather around him to ask for an autograph. I have always prepared for the Olympics, of course I would like to go. Of course, I would like to win an Olympic gold medal. But given the current situation, I risk returning to my country with this medal and then seeing it withdrawn. »
New world records
While waiting for the situation to change, Kliment Kolesnikov explains that he wants to concentrate on “new world records”. The number of competitions organized in Russia has increased significantly since Russian athletes were banned from international competitions following the launch of the Russian assault on Ukraine in February 2022.
“All the time we’re competing inside the country, guys are improving and breaking records. I, too, manage to break world records,” underlines Kolesnikov, who in July established the best world mark in the 50m backstroke (23.55) in the long course during a competition in Russia. We swim, and we remain in competition with athletes from other countries by our results. » And the Russian added: “But if ever the conditions (of the IOC) change” and the Russian authorities decide that “in the name of the Fatherland, we must win medals for our country” at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, “of course, I’m going to go.”
