The Latvian hockey player wanted to return the gold medals he won with the USSR national team

Latvian hockey player Artur Irbe, a two-time world champion in the USSR national team, said on February 17 that he could return the medals he won as part of the Soviet Union national team.

"I don't need to keep these medals. I'll give you the medals if I remember where they are. I don't keep them with pride. That was the time. I had no choice but to play somewhere else, and I didn't know anything better," the Finnish newspaper Iltalehti quoted him as saying.

In May last year, two-time Olympic ice hockey champion Vyacheslav Fetisov said that Irba needed to return all the medals won in the USSR national team because of calls not to let Russia into international competitions.Газета.Ru ".

Last chances: will our athletes be able to win medals at the Olympics

The biggest hopes are for Adelia Petrosyan, Savely Korostelev and Nikita Filippov.

Former Russian biathlete Anton Shipulin, who is now a State Duma deputy, said on February 16 that he was ready to give up his medals so that Russian athletes would be allowed to perform with the flag and anthem of the Russian Federation, and not in a neutral status. Shipulin recalled that the suspension of Russian athletes violates the main rule of the Olympic Games — "Sports outside politics."

All important news is on the Izvestia channel in the MAX messenger.