Three out of three: taekwondoists Khramtsov, Minina and Khan won licenses to participate in the Paris Olympics

International federations in summer sports interpreted the IOC recommendations regarding the admission of Russians and Belarusians to the Olympics in Paris differently.

World Aquatics and FIG, for example, put forward requirements for obtaining neutral status, which the representatives of the national teams did not agree to.

As a result, last week, domestic gymnasts lost even their theoretical chances of qualifying for the 2024 Olympics, since they did not show up for the World Cup in Baku.

The situation is similar in diving: in January, members of the Russian national team simply did not submit documents to participate in the World Championships in Doha, which was the last qualifying competition for the Games.

The relationship with World Taekwondo was not easy at first.

The International Federation was one of the first to allow Russians to compete in neutral status, but did not grant it to Olympic champions Maxim Khramtsov and Vladislav Larin.

The athletes ended up missing the 2023 World Championships.

No official reasons were given. 

However, the suspension from competition was temporary.

In the summer, World Taekwondo reconsidered its decision, and already on August 31, the leaders of the national team received access to international competitions. 

By that time there were not many qualifying tournaments left.

Nevertheless, they managed to win one license for them.

Larin, competing in the over 80 kg category, won the Grand Prix stages in China twice - in October and December.

This result allowed Vladislav to qualify for the Olympics, as he took first place in the Grand Slam rankings.

Tatyana Minina also performed well at these competitions.

He took gold and bronze in the weight category up to 57 kg.

However, two awards were not enough for her to get a trip to France.

The last attempt for Russians to qualify for the Games in Paris was the European Olympic Qualification Tournament in Sofia.

Three athletes out of a possible four were entered: Khramtsov (up to 80 kg), Minina (up to 57 kg) and Polina Khan (over 67 kg).

To achieve their goal - to obtain a license for the Olympic Games 2024 - they needed to reach the finals.

Moreover, the fight for first place was not held.

Both athletes were given a special certificate.

And all three Russians coped with the task, although it was not easy for the athletes.

So, Khramtsov made it to the decisive fight, despite a knockdown in the confrontation with Stefan Takov from Serbia.

He eventually won the match, which consisted of three rounds, with a score of 2:1.

“I passed out, but almost instantly got up and answered the questions of the doctor who came up.

Of course, I was shaking, stormy and dizzy.

But during the break I rested for a minute and realized that I needed to work as number one.

You need to attack and not give your opponent a chance.

I understood that I no longer had the right to make a mistake,” RIA Novosti quotes Khramtsov as saying.

As the Olympic champion noted, qualifying for the Tokyo Games was much easier.

Then he scored a high rating in advance and gained a foothold in first place.

“It’s much more difficult now, plus there were no international starts, and this also affects.

I’ve slowly gotten into shape and I’m glad that everything I planned worked out.

In the semi-finals, I took the lead in the first round, but in the end I missed a blow to the head and passed out for a couple of seconds.

But I didn’t even think about missing the Olympics.

In the fifth second, while the referee was counting the knockdown, he was able to get up, collected himself, took the second and third rounds into his piggy bank and won,” Khramtsov said.

At the same time, according to the head coach of the national team Vadim Ivanov, the support of the stands helped the athlete to win the semifinals.

“The audience here treats us kindly.

Some of our coaches and fans from a number of regions of Russia came to Sofia.

And Maxim Khramtsov fully felt their support at the critical moment that occurred in the semi-final match.

Maxim was knocked down in the first round, which he lost.

The emotional support of the fans cheered him up, he pulled himself together, confidently won the second and third rounds, winning a ticket to the Olympics,” Ivanov said.

Minina earned her license much more confidently.

In the semi-finals, the silver medalist of the Tokyo Olympics defeated the Czech Dominika Hronova with a score of 2:0.

But she also acted calmly with other rivals.  

“She won the first semi-final round by a large margin, in the second she also controlled the course of the fight and brought it to victory.

She didn’t manage to get any points, but if her opponent had taken a little more risk, Tatyana would have succeeded,” Ivanov noted.

Polina Khan also coped with her task.

The bronze medalist of the 2023 World Cup defeated Austrian Marlene Jal, who was third at the World Championships in 2022, with a score of 2:0 in rounds. 

“In the current situation, the most important thing for us is winning Olympic licenses.

We would have been more clear about the selection through the Olympic ranking, which we were deprived of due to the suspension.

And now we have only one start, which decides whether you will be at the Olympics or not.

And every nuance greatly influences the result of the fight.

Therefore, it was important for athletes to minimize any possible mistakes.

The guys are great, they managed to cope with the assigned tasks,” Ivanov emphasized.

It is important to emphasize that while Larin has a personal license for the Games, Khramtsov, Minina and Khan won quotas for the National Olympic Committee.

This means that in the event of an injury, the finalist of the tournament in Sofia can be replaced by a representative of the same country.

And if a qualified athlete is disqualified (for example, for doping), then the bronze medalist of the competition will take his place.

In addition, the international federation has not yet made a final decision on the participation of Russians in the Games in Paris.

It will be announced in April.

“World Taekwondo will officially announce which National Olympic Committees and individual neutral athletes have qualified for the Olympics after qualifying under the auspices of the Continental Union in April,” the organization told TASS.