Olympic champion Vasilyev called tournaments without Russians a parody of biathlon

International biathlon competitions without athletes from the Russian national team are a travesty. Dmitry Vasilyev, president of the St. Petersburg Biathlon Federation, two-time Olympic champion, said on December 16.

"I'm not very interested in watching international tournaments. It's a parody of biathlon. Only Norwegian athletes who are allowed to legally use doping under the imaginary pretext of illnesses dominate," Vasilyev said in a conversation withRBC Sport.

He drew attention to the fact that Russia has well-prepared athletes in case of admission to international tournaments.

Biathletes from Russia and Belarus will not be able to participate in the international season-2024/25, the International Biathlon Union (IBU) said on September 28.

IBU in March 2022 suspended the Russians and Belarusians from competition, and subsequently suspended the membership of the Russian Biathlon Union (SBR) and the Belarusian Biathlon Federation in its structure. In September of the same year, the suspension was extended.

In March 2023, the Executive Committee of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) recommended international federations to allow Russian athletes who do not support the special operation to protect Donbass to compete as neutral athletes, but these recommendations did not affect the IBU decision.