Russian wrestlers invited to the Paris Olympics under a neutral flag are withdrawing from the competition after some of their colleagues were excluded from the invitation list. “The goal is to undermine the principle of unity of our team,” the Russian Wrestling Federation said, according to Reuters.
According to Reuters, two-time champion Abdulrashid Sadulaev and 2023 world champion Zaurbek Sidakov are among the best Russian wrestlers not included in the International Olympic Committee (IOC) list.
“We do not accept the principle of non-sports selection, which the International Olympic Committee was guided by when forming the list of admitted athletes,” the Russian Wrestling Federation wrote.
The fighters’ withdrawal comes after Russian cyclist Alexander Vlasov also pulled out of the Olympics last month. The Paris Olympics run from July 26 to August 11, with wrestling competitions starting on August 5.
Let us recall that Russian and Belarusian athletes are prohibited from participating in Olympic competitions without using a neutral flag (without an anthem, flags and other means of identification) due to the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.