Alexander Bolshunov returned to international racing tracks on Thursday. Not everyone liked the fact that the Russian skier was able to compete.
Russian skier Aleksandr Bolšunov28, returned to international racing tracks on Thursday. He was number one in the 30 kilometer traditional skiing competition at Seiser Almi, Sudritol Moonlight Classic, a skiing in Italy. Bolšunov, 28, defeated the second to the Italian Lorenzo Busin 14 seconds.
Russian skiers have been closed to international competition activities since spring 2022 due to the invasion of the Russian Ukraine. Seisker Alm’s competition is not part of the International Ski Association FIS.
Bus and his spouse, the third of the women’s competition Malin börjesjö They wanted to show that they did not accept Russians’ participation in international competitions. They both kept a wide ribbon on their sleeves with the colors of the Ukrainian flag.
– It was obvious to us to show our support to Ukraine when we realized that Moonlight Classic did not comment on it. Moonlight Classic has announced that it does not want to confuse politics and sports, but it did just that, it just transferred responsibility to athletes, Börjesjö said, among other things, in a news release sent to Aftonbladet.
According to the Swedish skier, Bus wanted to point out that the couple’s flags of Ukraine were not addressed to Bolshunov.
– He (Busin) wanted to show his support to Ukraine and take a stand to show the competition organizer and the world that we think of Ukraine and we are sorry that the organizers do not work according to the line FIS.
According to the couple, Bolšunov was neutral about their protest. The Russian congratulated the Busy and he congratulated him back, but otherwise they did not talk to each other.
The race organizers bent so much from the outside that Bolshunov competed in the race under the neutral flag.