"The demand sounded at the wrong time": Russian synchronized swimmers were banned from performing in Tokyo in swimsuits with a bear

The sanctions against Russian sports, imposed after a series of anti-doping investigations, have taken on a new form.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has banned the synchronized swimming team from wearing swimsuits with the image of a bear.

Also, athletes were not allowed to use the word Russia ("Russia") in the title of the musical composition that accompanies the program.

The new requirements from the IOC became known just three weeks before the start of the Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo and a month before the start of synchronized swimmers, in which Russians are traditionally considered almost the only contenders for gold.

According to Svetlana Romashina, performing in a duet with Svetlana Kolesnichenko, they will be forced to submit to these decisions.

“We sent a sketch of the swimwear for approval, and we were told that due to the fact that the swimsuits have an image of a bear, they cannot be approved, as it is associated with our country.

I had to remove from the composition the name of the country, which sounded there in English.

We will not dispute, now all forces are concentrated on preparing the program, ”Romashina told RIA Novosti.

In the judgment of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which issued the final decision on the sanctions in December 2020, there is a mention of the fact that Russian athletes are prohibited from using the flag, national emblem and "other national symbols of the Russian Federation" on their uniforms.

It was this loophole that the IOC could have exploited to ban the depiction of a bear.

The Russian duo will also perform in the technical program with the modern processing of "Kalinka" performed by Little Big.

Athletes were not prohibited from using this composition, but, according to Romashina, from its full name With Russia From Love, they will have to delete the second word and replace it with ellipsis.

The coach of Romashina and Kolesnichenko, Tatyana Danchenko, admitted to RT that the new restrictions from the IOC came as a surprise to her. It will be impossible to remake old swimsuits that are almost ready, so the athletes will have to order new ones.

“I don’t remember that before we had to agree on costumes for performances, so the demand to change the design of swimsuits sounded a little unexpected for us and not to say that on time: the costumes were almost finished and our artist Kristina Terentyeva even went on vacation. Due to the fact that the design of the uniform was not approved for us, we were forced to inform the masters that we urgently need other suits - it is technologically impossible to change those that have already been made. Accordingly, as soon as Kristina returns from vacation, she will start working on swimsuits based on new sketches, ”said Danchenko.

The coach expressed the hope that they will have enough time to settle everything and prepare such swimwear that will not cause complaints from the IOC.

She also offered to check once again the compliance of the music with all the requirements so that it would not have to be changed either.

“We still have time to make a replacement, and I think there will be no more surprises: after the ban on costumes, just in case, we asked the IOC for expertise on the musical accompaniment of programs.

In this respect, fortunately, no claims were made, ”added Danchenko.

To this, the IOC replied that the choice of music is within the competence of international sports federations.

They are the ones who make up the rules and enforce them on such issues.

The International Swimming Federation (FINA) said that the issue of swimwear with bears and musical accompaniment of the programs of Russian synchronized swimmers was not discussed.

A member of the Federation's technical committee, three-time Olympic champion Olga Brusnikina admitted that she was surprised by the latest decision of the IOC.

“There was no such discussion at the level of the technical committee in FINA, such agreements did not come.

The decision is strange, bears, after all, live not only in Russia - in Canada, for example, in America.

At the very least, all this is strange to me, ”said Brusnikina.

Alla Shishkina, the current athlete of the Russian national team, spoke in a similar vein.

She said that the teams are not happy with the ban on swimwear with a bear, but nothing can be done about this decision now.

“It angered us when we first found out about it. This is so strange ... The bear lives in many countries, not only in Russia. It can be any bear at all! Grizzly, panda and anyone else ... But it was our country that was banned. We are now not in a position to argue with the IOC that we will not remove the bear. If they sent instructions to remove, then what to do? We will wait until all restrictions are lifted from us. We got angry in the locker room, that's all. The main thing is to perform well, ”Shishkina told Sport-Express.

Romashina and Kolesnichenko will compete for Olympic medals among duets from 2 to 4 August. In a day, they will take part in group competitions, which will end on the 7th. Russian synchronized swimmers have consistently won gold at all Olympic Games since 2000. Romashina in Tokyo will have a chance to become a seven-time champion of the competition.