MOSCOW, June 11. /TASS/. Russian gymnasts and judges will take part in international competitions as neutral participants, the Russian Gymnastics Federation said in a statement.
According to the federation, it has been confirmed that Russian trampoline athletes will compete in World Cup events in Portugal on July 5-6, in Germany on September 20-21, in Bulgaria on September 27-28, and in France on December 3-5. In addition, Russian athletes are also expected to take part in adult and youth trampoline world championships in Spain in November. A preliminary application has been submitted for Russian athletes to appear in the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) World Challenge Cup in Paris on September 13-14. The number of Russian participants will be finalized by July 16.
The federation also provided the details of Russian judges’ participation in international events. Alina Gusarova and Irina Berek will be serving as neutral judges at the Tbilisi Cup on June 11-15. Dmitry Andreyev has been appointed as a D2 judge for floor exercises at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships scheduled to be held in Indonesia on October 19-25. Irina Nikitina and Vladislav Oskner, deputy presidents of the Russian Gymnastics Federation, will join the high jury at the sports acrobatics event during the World Games in China’s Chengdu on August 7-17. The federation stressed that efforts are ongoing for Russian athletes to resume full-fledged participation in international sports.
In March 2022, the FIG suspended Russian and Belarusian gymnastics from its tournaments due to the conflict in Ukraine. Later, the international federation eased the sanctions, allowing the two countries’ athletes to compete as neutrals; however, they remained barred from team events. On April 5, the Russian Gymnastics Federation stated that the country’s athletes would not participate in the upcoming FIG competitions despite being granted neutral status. The decision stemmed from numerous unfounded and biased refusals to grant neutral status to athletes.