Judoka Martti Puumalainen may well face a Russian opponent at next summer’s Paris Olympics.
Matti Lehtisaari,
Riku Salminen,
Petri Sjöblom
Russian and Belorussian athletes will qualify for next summer’s Paris Olympics with strict restrictions. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) decided to allow Russians and Belarusians to participate in Paris as “neutral athletes”, without national emblems.
Read more: The International Olympic Committee decided: Russian athletes are allowed to participate in the Paris Olympics under certain conditions
A judoka who is part of Finland’s medal hopes in Paris Martti Puumalainen admits that he is disappointed with the guidelines of the International Olympic Committee.
– I personally feel that it is wrong that they are allowed to participate. But what can I do about it, I can only go and fight. Fortunately, I have beaten them (the Russians) by a good percentage, Puumalainen commented while visiting ‘s Sports Studio.
– This is perhaps something that the group doesn’t really talk about, Puumalainen pointed out about the discussion culture within his sport.
Is it likely that you would meet a Russian judoka in Paris?
– It is probable, there is one really good Russian, Inal Tasoev, who is fighting for a medal. But the only thing that helps here is to focus on what I’m doing, because that’s the only thing I can influence, Puumalainen stressed.
Niko Vuorinen knew how to prepare for the decision
The negative position of the Nordic and Baltic countries was clearly in the minority when the IOC made its decision. Swordsman Niko Vuorinen you could wait for the policies that came now.
– The decision did not really surprise. Most of the world’s countries are not Western. It seemed inevitable and unfortunate that this would happen. The IOC is what it is, Vuorinen summarized for Urheilu.
Vuorinen has an unequivocally negative attitude to the competition between Russians and Belarusians in Paris. However, he does not see that there is any point in the boycotts of individual countries.
– The task of an athlete is to play sports. When there are no international boycotts and not even Ukraine is boycotting, it is very difficult for small Finland to get anything done, Vuorinen estimates.
In fencing, team competitions largely affect how the Olympic places are distributed. This practically closes the door to Russians and Belarusians.
– From the point of view of the Olympics, our system is such that it is practically impossible for Russians to get to the Olympics when they are not allowed to participate in team competitions, Vuorinen said.