(Moscow) Alexandr Vlasov, authorized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to compete in the Paris Olympic Games, refused to participate, the Russian Cycling Federation announced Thursday, citing a sporting choice.
Winner of the 2022 Tour de Romandie and fourth in the Giro in 2021, Aleksandr Vlasov, 28, is the only one to have said “no” to the Olympics out of the 14 Russians authorized by the IOC to participate under a neutral banner in Paris (July 26-11 august).
“Vlasov refused to participate in the Olympics. The profile of the Parisian course does not suit him,” Russian Federation President Vyacheslav Ekimov told the official Tass news agency.
“The athlete also has a very busy schedule,” he further argued.
The International Olympic Committee on Saturday authorized 14 Russians and 11 Belarusians to participate under a neutral banner in the Paris Olympics, publishing a first list limited to four disciplines and expected to be completed in the coming weeks.
Two thirds of the athletes concerned are wrestlers, but the IOC has also validated the presence of two weightlifters, three trampoline gymnasts and four road cyclists, including Vlasov.
Cyclists Tamara Dronova and ALENA Ivanchenko, gymnast Angela Bladtseva, trampoline world vice-champion in February in Baku, as well as ten wrestlers appearing on the IOC list have confirmed their participation, according to their respective federations.
To appear in this first list, the “neutral individual athletes” had to both overcome the obstacle of qualifications and a double check, by the international federations then the IOC, of their absence of active support for the offensive in Ukraine and of connection with the Russian army.
Russian forces attacked Ukraine in February 2022, leading to a cascade of sanctions from international sporting bodies against Russian athletes.