This is how a Russian Olympic champion supports the war

Russian athletes have been banned from almost all international events. This sometimes leads to criticism, as recently from Novak Djokovic and Alexander Zverev. The two tennis stars had criticized the Wimbledon OK team because they refused to allow Russian tennis players to take part. The general tenor of the criticism: Athletes from Russia cannot help the war in Ukraine and that sport should not be mixed with politics.

Cross-country skier Veronika Stepanova proves the opposite and shows how closely sport and politics are connected. On Tuesday, the successful Russian Olympic participants were recognized in the Kremlin for their achievements in Beijing. Stepanova, who won gold in cross-country skiing, took the floor, defended the Russian war in Ukraine and expressed her support. “Russia is on the right track. We will win in Ukraine, just like we won at the Olympic Games,” said the 21-year-old, who was crowned Olympic champion in the relay – and then with an underpants statement made people sit up and take notice. “Everything I said in the Kremlin are my thoughts and my feelings.” Veronika Stepanova, cross-country skier Stepanova then posted a picture from the ceremony on social media that shows her with Vladimir Putin (the doped figure skater Kamila Valieva was photographed alone with Putin, among others). She wrote a text defending her words: “I am proud that the President of our great country presented me with the award. Everything I said in the Kremlin is my thoughts and my feelings. We are right and we will win!”

Ukrainian tennis player Alexander Dolgopolov, who ended his career due to injuries in May last year, criticized Stepanova for her statements. Dolgopolov wrote about a video that shows the Russian woman giving her speech: “They say that Russian athletes have nothing to do with politics. They are all innocent. Of course,” said the 33-year-old’s ironic comment. Alexander Dolgopolov has recently repeatedly criticized Russian athletes. © APA/afp / STR

Dolgopolov recently criticized Russian tennis player Andrey Rublev after he complained about being excluded from Wimbledon. Rublev had said that he was apolitical and knew nothing about the war in Ukraine. The exclusion from the Wimbledon tournament was not democratic, said Rublev. Dolgopolov replied to the Russian: “If you are so uneducated that you don’t know anything about your country’s war in Ukraine, then at least you shouldn’t talk about democracy. Your people rape women and children, execute people with shots in the back of the head and are just plain barbarians. So please be quiet instead of lying like your government.”

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This is how a Russian Olympic champion supports the war

Veronika Stepanova won a gold medal at the Olympic Games in Beijing. Now the cross-country skier has been honored for this by Vladimir Putin. At the same time, the 21-year-old defended the Russian war of aggression in Ukraine. Ex-tennis ace Alexander Dolgopolov criticized Stepanova for this.

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