When you were not taken to the Olympics. Russian sports stars were not allowed to the Olympics. We explain why this happened. "No one is safe from injury"

Three weeks before launch Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, Russian sports received another blow from the IOC. Applications of 111 athletes were rejected, which does not allow them to perform even under the Olympic flag. SPORT.TUT.BY explains how the stars of the eastern neighbors were left without the Games and why Russia does not dare to boycott Pyeongchang-2018.

What happened to the Russian Olympians again?

As you know, Russia was not allowed to the Olympics in Pyeongchang, but "clean" athletes were offered to compete under a neutral flag. To do this, their federations need to send applications to the IOC. At the end of last week, consideration of about 500 such applications was completed. 111 of them were rejected and the athletes did not receive invitations. Among them are a number of contenders for medals: skier Sergei Ustyugov, short track skater Viktor An, biathlete Anton Shipulin, speed skaters Denis Yuskov and Pavel Kulizhnikov.

Pavel Kulizhnikov. Photo: www.schaatsen.nl

The list of banned athletes includes hockey players, figure skaters, and bobsledders. Teams in cross-country skiing, biathlon, speed skating and short track have suffered more seriously than others. In these types, more than half of the athletes were refused.

Ideally clean, according to the IOC, are curling, freestyle and alpine skiing teams.

How did the IOC screen out athletes?

The group, led by the chairman of the independent doping testing organization, Valerie Furneuron, was guided by several criteria at once. Thus, athletes should not be disqualified or found guilty of any of the anti-doping rule violations (therefore, skaters Yuskov and Kulizhnikov, hockey players Belov and Plotnikov were denied), should not be mentioned in the McLaren report (which is obvious, given the IOC life bans) and must comply with the requirements necessary to protect the integrity of the Olympic Games.

Anton Shipulin. Photo: biathlonrus.com

The last point does not seem clear, but Furneuron has already explained what it is about. The IOC must be 100% sure that the athlete is clean and does not violate the rules. It takes into account the data of the Moscow Anti-Doping Laboratory, and the numbers of biological passports, and the testimony of anonymous informants, and complete information on compliance with anti-doping rules. For example, if doping officers decide to test an athlete, and his real location does not match the one indicated by the athlete in the special ADAMS system, then the IOC is unlikely to trust him. Or if the testing did not show the presence of prohibited substances, but abnormal deviations in the content of red blood cells are visible in the data of the biological passport, then this athlete also arouses suspicion in the commission.

Invitations to the Olympics were received only by athletes with an ideal reputation. Even small doubts among the members of the Furneuron group put an end to the athlete's prospects.

Russia explains such selectivity with political motives, the IOC - with the desire to be sure of the cleanliness of the athletes of the Olympic team.

Why does any commission decide who will play for Russia?

Not for Russia, but for the team of "Olympic athletes from Russia." This is a very important clarification. By and large, this is a team over which the IOC patronizes. If athletes want to compete under the Olympic flag, they must comply with the requirements of the committee. And the IOC can set any conditions, because, again, this is their team.

Reuters

Yes, the suspensions of Anton Shipulin and Viktor An look strange, but Russia still has time to find out the reason for their exclusion and influence the decision of the group. Until January 28, the list is preliminary, not final.

Does the IOC specifically remove the strongest Russian athletes?

This is not entirely true. Yes, among the uninvited there are obvious contenders for medals. There are about 10 of them. Plus a few athletes from the ski and biathlon relay races. The IOC did not approve the applications of 111 athletes, so it is quite logical that there are real tops among them. As for the athletes who do not claim awards, officials and journalists simply did not pay attention to their names. Hence the erroneous feeling that only the elite were rejected.

For example, in biathlon, only Anton Shipulin belongs to the world leaders, but seven more shooting skiers of a lower level were not allowed to the Games.

Anton Belov. Reuters

The hockey team lost Sergei Plotnikov, Anton Belov, Valery Nichushkin, Mikhail Naumenkov and Alexei Bereglazov. The last two were not seriously considered by head coach Oleg Znark, Belov was caught doping, Plotnikov violated anti-doping rules. Only Nichushkin remains, but he was not guaranteed a place in the team either. At the same time, the IOC allowed all the leaders of the hockey team - Ilya Kovalchuk, Vadim Shipachyov, Pavel Datsyuk, Vyacheslav Voinov and Nikita Gusev.

And most importantly: the representatives of the Furneuron group did not know exactly who was being weeded out. All cases were considered anonymously, that is, without indicating the name of the athlete.

What can the Russian team now count on?

Of course, it is not possible to repeat the success of Sochi-2014, but the team will not be left without medals either. Russia's position in figure skating is traditionally strong, where you can count on two or three awards. good season are carried out by freestylers, medals are real even in curling and alpine skiing, which were recently exotic for the country.

Finally, in the absence of players from the NHL, bookmakers consider Russia the clear favorite for the hockey tournament. Their chances are estimated twice as high as last year's finalists - Canada and Sweden.

Photo: Reuters

So the team of "Olympic athletes from Russia" may well bring about 10 awards from Pyeongchang.

Why is Russia not boycotting this Olympics?

On the eve of the December decision of the IOC, there were indeed calls for a boycott of Pyeongchang 2018. Moreover, even Vladimir Putin said that speaking under a neutral flag is a humiliation for Russia. But gradually the opinion began to change, which is most clearly seen in the example of the head of the Russian Olympic Committee, Alexander Zhukov.

There are several reasons for this. First, the IOC made a nod to Russia, noting the name of the country in the team's name. This is unprecedented in the history of the Games. It is one thing to act as a neutral athlete, and quite another to be an “Olympic athlete from Russia”. Look at the uniform of the hockey team. Is it not clear that this is the Russian team?

Secondly, the official boycott of the Olympics threatens with exclusion from the IOC for a period of eight years.

It was possible to offer the athletes themselves to refuse to participate, but, contrary to rumors, they did not agree to this in Russia.

However, we still need to wait for the approval of the list of invited athletes. Back to top next week the final version will be published. It is possible that it will bring new shocks to Russia.

How did it happen that none of the players of the strongest team of the 2017/2018 season plays in the Russian national team.

Kazan "Ak Bars" won the Gagarin Cup for a record third time in history. In the final series, the club of Zinetula Bilyaletdinov confidently beat CSKA with a score of 4: 1. The most surprising thing in this situation is that in the composition of the newly minted winner of the Gagarin Cup there is not a single Olympic champion. Just the players that Ak Bars literally smeared on the wall went to Pyeongchang. How so?

Veterans are dragging

Really the Kazan club was pulled only by legionnaires? Yes, the winning goal, which became the only one in the golden match, was scored by Canadian Rob Clinkhammer. Other legios also made significant contributions.

ners - Justin Azevedo, Jiri Sekach and Anton Lander. But this is where the list of Ak Bars foreigners ends, and they were not the real leaders at all.

Perhaps the main driving force of Kazan was 37-year-old veteran Danis Zaripov. But before the start of the season, Zaripov's career hung in the balance - he was accused of doping and disqualified for two years. But Ak Bars did not abandon the veteran, lawyers fought hard for the attacker for several months and proved his innocence.

In November, the best sniper of last season returned to the ice, it would seem that this is great news for the Russian team on the eve of the Olympics. However, Znarok never summoned Zaripov to the team. The only explanation that can be given to this fact is age, Zaripov is already 37 years old. But exactly the same amount for Metallurg Magnitogorsk striker Sergei Mozyakin, who got into the national team.

Apparently, according to the same principle, another eminent veteran, who is still hoo - Andrey Markov, was left without an application. He is even older than his colleagues Zaripov and Mozyakin - he is already 39. But if you look at the statistics, then with Ak Bars he spent the most time on ice per game - almost 22 minutes. In addition, Markov handed out assists left and right - 28 per season. However, Znarok stubbornly ignored the statistics.

young growth

Let's say the national team took a course towards rejuvenation, which explains the absence of Zaripov and Markov. But how can one not give a chance to one of the best KHL snipers Vladimir Tkachev? The Znarka team included several forwards from the category of “promising” at once, but the head coach of the national team left the 24-year-old striker, whose star had already risen and shone with might and main, in reserve.

Of the other young talents that should be in the national team, it is worth highlighting forward Stanislav Galiev, who left early overseas, failed the season for Washington, and then returned to Kazan and played like never before. In terms of distribution of assists, young defenders Vasily Tokranov and Albert Yarullin are trying to compete with Andrey Markov.

In addition, goalkeeper Emil Garipov, who was recognized as the main character of the final match, has completely grown to the level of the national team. Moreover, Garipov claimed the role of the most valuable player of the entire playoffs, reflecting almost 95% of the shots inflicted on his goal. Phenomenal statistics make him the main contender for a place at the start of the national team, but first you need to at least get into the application.

For the world hockey championship, the Russian national team will no longer be trained by Znarok, but by the young Ilya Vorobyov. In this regard, there is hope that not only SKA and CSKA players, but also hockey players from other clubs will be able to get into the team. If the above persons are not in the application, then it will be possible to raise conspiracy theories.

In Korea, it was published on Thursday afternoon, and it seems that everyone has already spoken out on it. Nevertheless, the question "why did they take this one and not that one" in the Russian media is still relevant today. RIA Novosti correspondent Alexander Rogulev in an editorial blog evaluates the choice of his staff.

"Bring ammo"

The two main alleged claims to Znark and everyone else are the absence of the main team of Vladimir Tkachev and. Another indirect one is the presence of Sergei Mozyakin in the composition.

The coaching staff is responsible for the result at the tournament, they are also responsible for those whom they called up to the national team. Each of the hockey players will have their own task at the Olympics and, in the opinion of the coaching staff, they will perform these tasks better than the same Tkachev and Tryamkin. It was the same in all previous tournaments. Therefore, it will be relevant to talk about the choice of Znarok and co after the Olympic Games.

"No one is safe from injury"

One of the most famous "pictures" of the Olympics in Sochi. After the defeat from the Finns in the quarterfinals of the Olympic tournament, Zinetula Bilyaletdinov was literally pressed against the wall of the press center after a short press conference, a crowd of 30-40 journalists formed around the head coach of the Russian national team. Bilyaletdinov fought back as best he could, but in response to another question about not being challenged by Sergei Mozyakin, he let it slip: "At the Olympics, he would not have reached the goal."

Almost four years have passed, but Bilyaletdinov remembers this phrase every time Mozyakin breaks a scorer's record, takes a title or is called up to Oleg Znarka's team. And for these four years, there were enough reasons to remember "I would not have reached the gate." Maybe this year, after the departure of Danis Zaripov from Magnitogorsk, Mozyakin plays differently. Zhamnov also said about the same about Mozyakin.

“He is an experienced player,” the scout said on Thursday. “Of course, we also took into account the fact that this is Mozyakin’s last chance to play at the Olympics. The man has done a lot for our hockey, I’m sure he will be useful at the Olympics in some matches.”

Don't forget, the Russian team has three more test games to go, in which anything can happen. We all know about the increased traumatism of Russian hockey players at Znark during preparation for major tournaments. Remember the story with Nail Yakupov before the 2016 World Cup?

So I would suggest waiting until the hockey players go to Korea. Who knows, maybe the same Vladimir Tkachev will fly to the base in Korean Anyang as the main player of the "Olympic athletes from Russia"?

Today, January 25, the coaching staff of the Russian national team announced the squad for the XXIII Winter Olympic Games, which will be held in Pyeongchang from February 9 to 25. We figure out who at the last moment did not get to the Games.

25 hockey players against the lawlessness of the IOC. They will go to Korea to fight for Russia

Oleg Znarok announced the squad for the Olympics.

n. Vladimir Tkachev

How good was the 24-year-old forward in the recent match between Ak Bars and CSKA! Two days ago, it was impossible to imagine that with such a game Tkachev would remain outside the application of the Russian national team. Yes, and the central forwards in our recent times were in short supply. But Datsyuk, Shipachev, Prokhorkin, Andronov, Kablukov will go to Korea, and Kalinin and Grigorenko can also play in the center. Tkachev simply did not have enough space in the application, they preferred the more versatile Prokhorkin. It is noteworthy that the Kazan striker is included in the number of closest reservists and can get into the line-up in case of injury to one of the base players.

n.

Another little sensation - the absence of Maxim Shalunov. "Armeian" participated in two stages of the Eurotour, and in general left a favorable impression of himself. The verdict for Maxim was the match with Canada at the Channel One Cup, in which Shalunov and a number of other players were confused under the onslaught of the opponent. Character is almost the main quality that Znarok appreciates. His 24-year-old striker was not enough.

n.

Throughout the season, Oleg Znarok in the national team was looking for partners for Kirill Kaprizova. With Gusev proper "chemistry" did not work. But the most obvious option was to reproduce the "army" link Shumakov - Shalunov - Whims. That's just Sergei coaching staff of the national team stubbornly ignored. It's no secret that Znarok doesn't like Shumakov's game, he (unlike Shalunov) never wanted to see him in SKA, he doesn't see him in the national team either.

h.

Znarok challenged the Avtomobilist defender to the Karjala Cup, but there Nikita could not show his best side and then was invited only to the Olympic team. Despite this, the choice of the coaching staff is not at all obvious. Tryamkin, who returned this season from the NHL, looks no weaker than Khafizullin. But Nikita does not play for SKA and not even for CSKA. But he is only 23 years old, and, probably, the Uralian will still have a chance to get to the Olympics.

h.

In the summer, the 39-year-old defender said that, among other things, for the sake of the Olympics, he decided to return to Russia. In Ak Bars, Andrei immediately became the most productive defender. Markov has 31 (5+26) points in 53 games in the KHL (the best figure in the league among Russian defense players). Like everyone, he had unsuccessful games, but there were still many more successful ones. Nevertheless, Oleg Znarok did not call the veteran to any stage of the Eurotour, Andrey was not included in the extended list of the national team. Markov is said to be a complex person who can easily spoil the atmosphere in the locker room. But he's still a great defender. In a couple of weeks we will find out if the coaching staff of the Russian national team made a mistake in their choice.

Thank you for not squeezing Datsyuk. What composition will Znarok scrape together for the Olympics

Despite the lawlessness of the IOC.

n. Plotnikov, N. Nichushkin, s. Belov

By decision of the IOC, several Russian hockey players will not go to Pyeongchang. But Plotnikov, Belov and Nichushkin would definitely be in the squad. Sergei is generally a loss for the Russian team. I immediately remembered the World Cup in Cologne. There he was not the top scorer, he was not the team captain, but without him that Russian team was hard to imagine. Now it will have to. And very sorry.

The big heart of a hungry team. Why Plotnikov needs a national team

Dmitry Yerykalov explains why Sergei Plotnikov is needed by the Russian team and is a symbol of the national team of the era of Oleg Znarok.

Belov was the captain at last year's world championship and, despite the autumn injury, he had to go to the Olympics. Nichushkin is not such an important player for Znark. A participant in the Sochi Olympics was balancing between the reserve and the fourth link. But he regularly received a call to the national team. However, it doesn't matter now. They rolled past the IOC Olympics.

Three weeks before the start of the Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, Russian sports received another blow from the IOC. Applications of 111 athletes were rejected, which does not allow them to perform even under the Olympic flag. the site explains how the stars of the eastern neighbors were left without the Games and why Russia does not dare to boycott Pyeongchang-2018.

What happened to the Russian Olympians again?

As you know, Russia was not allowed to the Olympics in Pyeongchang, but "clean" athletes were offered to compete under a neutral flag. To do this, their federations need to send applications to the IOC. At the end of last week, consideration of about 500 such applications was completed. 111 of them were rejected and the athletes did not receive invitations. Among them are a number of contenders for medals: skier Sergei Ustyugov, short track skater Viktor An, biathlete Anton Shipulin, speed skaters Denis Yuskov and Pavel Kulizhnikov.

The list of banned athletes includes hockey players, figure skaters, and bobsledders. Teams in cross-country skiing, biathlon, speed skating and short track have suffered more seriously than others. In these types, more than half of the athletes were refused.

Ideally clean, according to the IOC, are curling, freestyle and alpine skiing teams.

How did the IOC screen out athletes?

Group led by the chairman Valerie Fourneuron, an independent doping testing organization, was guided by several criteria at once. Thus, athletes should not be disqualified or found guilty of any of the anti-doping rule violations (therefore skaters Yuskov and Kulizhnikov, hockey players Belov and Plotnikov were denied), must not be mentioned in the McLaren report (which is obvious, given the IOC lifetime bans) and must meet the requirements necessary to protect the integrity Olympic Games.

The last point does not seem clear, but Furneuron has already explained what it is about. The IOC must be 100% sure that the athlete is clean and does not violate the rules. It takes into account the data of the Moscow Anti-Doping Laboratory, and the numbers of biological passports, and the testimony of anonymous informants, and complete information on compliance with anti-doping rules. For example, if doping officers decide to test an athlete, and his real location does not match the one indicated by the athlete in the special ADAMS system, then the IOC is unlikely to trust him. Or if the testing did not show the presence of prohibited substances, but abnormal deviations in the content of red blood cells are visible in the data of the biological passport, then this athlete also arouses suspicion in the commission.

Invitations to the Olympics were received only by athletes with an ideal reputation. Even small doubts among the members of the Furneuron group put an end to the athlete's prospects.

Russia explains such selectivity with political motives, the IOC - with the desire to be sure of the cleanliness of the athletes of the Olympic team.

Why does any commission decide who will play for Russia?

Not for Russia, but for the team of "Olympic athletes from Russia." This is a very important clarification. By and large, this is a team over which the IOC patronizes. If athletes want to compete under the Olympic flag, they must comply with the requirements of the committee. And the IOC can set any conditions, because, again, this is their team.

Yes, the suspensions of Anton Shipulin and Viktor An look strange, but Russia still has time to find out the reason for their exclusion and influence the decision of the group. Until January 28, the list is preliminary, not final.

Does the IOC specifically remove the strongest Russian athletes?

This is not entirely true. Yes, among the uninvited there are obvious contenders for medals. There are about 10 of them. Plus a few athletes from the ski and biathlon relay races. The IOC did not approve the applications of 111 athletes, so it is quite logical that there are real tops among them. As for the athletes who do not claim awards, officials and journalists simply did not pay attention to their names. Hence the erroneous feeling that only the elite were rejected.

For example, in biathlon, only Anton Shipulin belongs to the world leaders, but seven more shooting skiers of a lower level were not allowed to the Games.

The hockey team lost Sergei Plotnikov, Anton Belov, Valery Nichushkin, Mikhail Naumenkov and Alexei Bereglazov. The last two were not seriously considered by head coach Oleg Znark, Belov was caught doping, Plotnikov violated anti-doping rules. Only Nichushkin remains, but he was not guaranteed a place in the team either. At the same time, the IOC allowed all the leaders of the hockey team - Ilya Kovalchuk, Vadim Shipachyov, Pavel Datsyuk, Vyacheslav Voinov and Nikita Gusev.

And most importantly: the representatives of the Furneuron group did not know exactly who was being weeded out. All cases were considered anonymously, that is, without indicating the name of the athlete.

What can the Russian team now count on?

Of course, it is not possible to repeat the success of Sochi-2014, but the team will not be left without medals either. Russia's position in figure skating is traditionally strong, where you can count on two or three awards. A good season is spent by freestylers, medals are real even in curling and alpine skiing, which were recently exotic for the country.

Finally, in the absence of players from the NHL, bookmakers consider Russia the clear favorite for the hockey tournament. Their chances are estimated twice as high as last year's finalists - Canada and Sweden.

So the team of "Olympic athletes from Russia" may well bring about 10 awards from Pyeongchang.

Why is Russia not boycotting this Olympics?

On the eve of the IOC, there were indeed calls for a boycott of Pyeongchang 2018. Moreover, even Vladimir Putin said that speaking under a neutral flag is a humiliation for Russia. But gradually the opinion began, which is most clearly seen in the example of the head of the Russian Olympic Committee, Alexander Zhukov.

There are several reasons for this. First, the IOC made a nod to Russia, noting the name of the country in the team's name. This is unprecedented in the history of the Games. It's one thing to be a neutral athlete, but quite another to be an "Olympic athlete from Russia." Look at the uniform of the hockey team. Is it not clear that this is the Russian team?

Secondly, the official boycott of the Olympics threatens with exclusion from the IOC for a period of eight years.

It was possible to offer the athletes themselves to refuse to participate, but, contrary to rumors, they did not agree to this in Russia.

However, we still need to wait for the approval of the list of invited athletes. The final version will be published by the beginning of next week. It is possible that it will bring new shocks to Russia.