Earlier today, it was announced that Russian gymnasts will miss all-around World Cups in Milwaukee and Tokyo due to coronavirus fears. Nikita Nagornyy and Lilia Akhaimova were supposed to compete at the American Cup and Artur Dalaloyan and Angelina Simakova were slated to go to Tokyo. By withdrawing from two of the four competitions, Russia effectively stopped fighting for an extra Olympic spot.
Valentina Rodionenko said that the federation still plans on attending Stuttgart and Birmingham World Cups for now but are willing to change this decision if the situation escalates in Germany and UK. Nagornyy will replace Ignatyev in Birmingham, while Dalaloyan will replace Belyavskiy in Stuttgart. No word yet whether there will be replacements on the women’s side as well. For now, Angelina Melnikova and Aleksandra Shchekoldina are supposed to compete in Stuttgart and Birmingham respectively.
Andrei Rodionenko said the federation’s priority is the health of the gymnasts:
“Everything that’s happening – it’s horrifying. Imagine, if someone will sneeze on the plane, we will be left [in quarantine] for two weeks. You have to judge the real situation. We were shown what happens in Italy, people are walking as if nothing happened. Russia is doing the right thing, protecting its citizens, and we must protect our gymnasts. It’s not known what will now happen with the Olympic Games, we have to be prepared for every possibility. Is it better to fear the risks? It’s not even a risk. People who did not encounter it cannot estimate the scale of the virus. There is no need to panic, our country does everything for the safety of the citizens, we have to help with that and not look for trouble.”
Valentina Rodionenko also clarified that fears of missing training due to being quarantined contributed a lot to the decision:
“Regarding the World Cup in the US, such a decision was made because they are flying there with two stops. One of them is in Amsterdam and this one is the scariest. If even one person will be suspected [of carrying coronavirus], all the passengers will be quarantined, and that’s two weeks minimum. Imagine what it means for a gymnast to be quarantined for two weeks, while the European Championships are around the corner.”
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