SwimSwam will periodically update you on the biggest news around the Olympic and Paralympic world, outside of aquatic sports. Catch up on the latest with Russian president Vladimir Putin weighing neutral status for the Paris 2024 Olympics, the Tokyo Olympic bribery scandal, and more.
Russian president Vladimir Putin said Thursday that the restrictions announced last week by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) must be “thoroughly” analyzed before he could commit to sending neutral athletes to the Paris 2024 Olympics next summer.
“I’ve always said that athletes are training for years, and we must provide them with an opportunity to participate in grand tournaments, including the Olympic Games,” Putin said. “Everyone knows that this is our flag flying, everyone knows that this is our athlete participating, it is obvious. That’s why I kept supporting the participation of our athletes in such competitions, but at the moment we need to thoroughly analyze conditions on behalf of the International Olympic Committee.
“If these artificial conditions seek to prevent our leaders, the athletes who are capable of winning gold, silver and bronze medals [from participating], exhaust our team and make it seem that Russian sports is dying instead of developing, then the Ministry of Sports and the Russian Olympic Committee need to assess the situation and make a balanced decision,” Putin added. “Everything that international officials impose in regard to the Russian sports movement contradicts and perverts the original idea of Pierre de Coubertin … The Olympic Movement was established to unite people, not divide them. International officials have become too deeply involved in the business side of the sports movement today and they rely heavily on their donors. If things go on like this, they will bury the Olympic Movement.”
Alexander Tikhonov, a four-time Olympic gold medalist in the biathlon for Russia, floated the idea of only medal contenders attending Paris 2024.
“Many of our athletes have already lost their chances of qualifying for the Olympics — we will no longer be able to form a full delegation, and if we now send those who have no claims to medals, they will laugh at us,” Tikhonov said. “They will say that it was right that they did not allow us in, because we were of no use. But I wouldn’t go even if I was competing for a medal.”
Takahashi pleads not guilty to Tokyo 2020 bribery charges
Former Dentsu senior director and Tokyo 2020 Executive Committee member Haruyuki Takahashi pleaded not guilty to bribery charges on Thursday, marking a departure from 10 other defendants in the sponsorship scandal who have pleaded guilty.
“I assert my innocence on all the charges,” said Takahashi, 79. “It was strictly business and it was not a bribe.”
Takahashi helped raise a record-setting $3.3 billion in domestic sponsorship revenue ahead of the Tokyo Olympics. Prosecutors claim he received nearly $1.4 million in U.S. dollars from companies seeking sponsorship status or other work related to the Olympics. They allege that Aoki Holdings and Kadokawa became sponsors at discounted rates thanks to Takahashi.
IOC Pledges $45 million of Refugee Aid
At the Global Refugee Forum on Wednesday in Geneva, Switzerland, the IOC pledged $45 million to support as many as $500,000 displaced people.
The IOC’s donation is on behalf of more than 100 organizations, including dozens of National Olympic Committees, International Federations, governments, UN agencies, and private sector representatives. Notably, $15 million will be reserved for the third IOC Refugee Team competing at the Paris 2024 Olympics next summer.
Currently, 62 athletes from 11 countries receive aid from the IOC’s Refugee Athlete Scholarship. They now live in 19 other countries as refugees.
Miles Takes Over for Palaszczuk as Queensland Premier
Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk, who was instrumental in helping Australia secure its 2032 Olympic bid, announced her retirement last Sunday.
Steven Miles took over for Palaszczuk as Queensland’s new premier this week, and he’s already tried to quell frustrations over costly Olympic facilities such as the $1.77 billion (USD) cricket grounds. Miles introduced an infrastructure delivery authority that will review all major venues for the 2032 Brisbane Olympics within the next 60 days.
“We need to work better with our partners to deliver the legacy benefits of the Olympics and Paralympics,” said Miles, who added that the Olympics had “become divisive” and that he wanted to fix it.
Both quotes share the same theme. Russia is scared of worldwide perception of decline. They don’t want to be laughed at.
Invading to annex is irrelevant
Putin deserves no quarter for these monstrous takes.
Let them stay home.
“To unite people, not divide them”…said by a Russian…ok
The Russian way of uniting people: by annexing territories of other countries