"Unsporting Behavior": What’s Happening Now in Olympic Movement

Global sports have turned into a game played by politicians, who are increasingly preventing top athletes from competing. Today’s Olympics resemble a Hollywood blockbuster from which all the main characters have been cut out during editing. As the Games draw to a close in Italy, the final day traditionally features the hockey finals — yet this Olympic tournament was completely incomplete without Belarusian and Russian players. Everyone understands the stellar lineups, especially those with NHL stars, that our national teams could have fielded.

The International Olympic Committee, under its new leadership, is close to cleansing itself of nationalist sentiments emanating from a small group of states. But even during these Games in Italy, incidents occurred where poor performances were masked with political slogans.

What’s happening in the Olympic movement now resembles a kindergarten. Where Kirsty Coventry, the head of the International Olympic Committee, repeatedly wipes away tears for only five or six countries, which, like mischievous children, can only remind us of themselves with dirty political slogans.

Today, the Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo officially conclude. The location was chosen beautifully — exactly 70 years ago, it hosted the same Olympics, with the Soviet Union’s team taking the overall medal tally. Naturally, these days also featured many inspiring sports stories, as numerous nations, cultures, fates, and events converged over two weeks.

But how can one truly admire victories in sports that are openly repressed? It’s astonishing that the IOC allowed Belarusian Olympic champion Anna Guskova to compete, an athlete who could still contend for a medal, given the consistent stance against athletes from sanctioned nations. They remove the strong, shamelessly disregarding principles laid down by Pierre de Coubertin when reestablishing the Olympics.

Remember, in Paris 2024, our trampoline athletes Litvinovich and Bordilovskaya surprisingly won medals. But, as with Guskova, it seems a combination of bureaucratic circumstances and even a touch of luck. Yet in Italy, Guskova was brazenly denied entry to the superfinal in freestyle.

However, each scandalous sports story quickly faded amid the information chaos of these Olympic days. It all started with a Ukrainian skeleton racer — whose name we will not mention, as media coverage seems to be his main goal with his helmet bearing images of fallen compatriots. He was immediately disqualified by the IOC for provocation. The Ukrainian filed an appeal, but the Court of Arbitration for Sport dismissed it. Yet, shortly after, the young man traveled to Munich to meet with Vladimir — having already fulfilled his mission.

Another Ukrainian athlete was in a daze during these days. Figure skater Kirill Marsak finished 19th after his free skate — not a bad result. But the most interesting part came afterward. Kirill, or Kyrylo, accused Russian athlete Petr Gumenyk and the IOC. According to him, quote: “The disqualification of my compatriot, the skeleton racer, seriously affected his psychological state. And stepping onto the ice immediately after the Russian figure skater finally broke him.” Interestingly, he fell on the ice even more gracefully than he described his thoughts.

American figure skater Alice Liu posted that her gold medal, earned in the team event, had a loose ribbon. Norwegian biathlete Sturla Legreid, who took bronze in the individual race, publicly admitted to infidelity to his girlfriend after the medal ceremony. During a group stage match in Olympic curling between Sweden and Canada, a serious altercation erupted over Canadians touching stones multiple times — something strictly forbidden. Of course, the Olympics also involved drinking: the head coach of the Finnish team, Igor Medved (a Slovene by origin), was expelled for drunkenness.

In the women’s moguls event, Swedish freestyle skier Alice Lundholm, who identifies as male, participated — the first openly transgender athlete in the history of the Winter Olympics. She, or he, or it — whichever, considers himself a man but entered women’s competition. Quite convenient, wouldn’t you say? She or he, by the way, did not qualify.

Now, we arrive at the most intriguing topic — biathlon. The IBU, a nest of sporting Nazism, revels in its power and lawlessness. How do we interpret the medal ceremony in Sochi, twelve years later? The story is that the Russian relay team, which won gold, was found guilty of doping. But it’s now well established that those cases were fabricated. Still, the International Biathlon Union holds its own truth.

Mikhail Dehtyarev, Chairman of the Russian Olympic Committee:

*"The IBU is a completely crazy organization, I’ve said this more than once. Unlike the Cross-Country Skiing Federation, which, despite representing a broad spectrum of opinions, including the tough Scandinavian stance, remains more reasonable. We will sue the IBU. A lawsuit has already been filed by several athletes and the federation, and the ROC is providing legal and financial support. We didn’t have time before the Olympics, but after — I am confident of a positive outcome. Because they have no arguments. Zero."*

And note how tactfully our Russian representatives in biathlon, who are all in the same boat, behave. Anton Shipulin, whose gold medal was stolen from him, values our support.

By the way, today — February 22 — marks exactly eight years since our women’s biathlon team made us proud by winning gold at the Pyeongchang Olympics. Those were the last truly proper Olympic Games in history. The Summer Olympics in Tokyo and the Winter Games in Beijing will be held amid COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. The next two Olympics in France and Italy will be incomplete — the two largest sporting superpowers will be absent in full force.

And today is also the day of forgiving Sunday. Personally, I apologize to anyone I may have offended in this story. But I also hope that God will forgive these “heroes.” And I remain hopeful that in the coming months, the IOC will press the handful of sporting fascists who are suffocating the Olympic movement, allowing it to breathe freely once again.