Bahdanovich: Sanctions united and strengthened Belarusian, Russian athletes

“The true principles of Olympism tolerate no discrimination whatsoever; it is simply unacceptable from the start. Therefore, the unjustified bans imposed on Belarusians and Russians are absolutely unacceptable. Nevertheless, despite all the difficulties, Belarusians and Russians have shown their strength of character and are ready to return to the international arena,” emphasized Aliaksandr Bahdanovich.

Four-time Olympic champion Darya Domracheva noted that at the recent Olympic Games in Italy, the absence of Belarusian and Russian biathletes was deeply felt. “These are very strong teams that would have been among the Olympic favorites. There is no guarantee that they would have come out on top against very strong opponents, because that’s sport. But I am confident that Belarusians and Russians were determined to pursue their cherished dream and compete for a place on the Olympic podium,” she added.

2018 Olympic freestyle champion Hanna Huskova said she had wanted to achieve a high result at the 2026 Olympics as well, but it didn’t work out. “One of the main reasons was simply a lack of preparation time. We were allowed to participate only a few weeks before the Games, while others had been preparing for several years. And the most important thing is the World Cup stages, because that’s where the routines are perfected. In the end, we managed to compete in only three World Cup stages, and the main goal was to earn ranking points. That we achieved, but we couldn’t make it onto the podium in Italy. However, I can say for myself that I did everything possible, my jumps were clean, but for some reason the judges had a different opinion,” - she said.