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Russia explodes in fit of Olympics rage, claims Tokyo Games were rigged

Hamartia Antidote

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Wow what a shocker..didn't see that coming :rolleyes1:


Russia has a bitter taste in its mouth after ending the Olympics on a sour note.

Technically the country itself was banned from the Games and its athletes competed as part of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC). Its flag and anthem are black-listed from major competitions until 2022 as punishment for the nation’s state sanctioned doping program and while plenty were upset they were still allowed in Tokyo, Russia wasn’t about to show too much gratitude.

ROC came in fifth on the medal tally with 20 golds, just ahead of Australia (17). America topped the list with 39 golds, while China was second with 38. However, fifth place didn’t satisfy everyone back home, sparking accusations the Olympics were rigged against Russia.

At the heart of the complaints was controversy surrounding three-time rhythmic gymnastics world champion Dina Averina, who won silver behind Israel’s Linoy Ashram in the women’s all-around event. Russia officially protested the result, alleging biased judging was responsible for an “injustice”.

Ashram dropped her ribbon as her routine ended, which resulted in the Russian outcry. Ironically, Averina won gold at the 2018 world championships after also dropping her ribbon.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the Tokyo judges committed “fraud in front of the whole world.”

As reported by The Daily Beast, Russian Rhythmic Gymnastics Federation president Irina Viner-Usmanova spoke of the “horror and mayhem” of these Olympics and the “obscene” nature of the judging. “This outcome was planned in advance,” she alleged.

Editor-in-chief of Russian news site RT Margarita Simonyan tweeted there was a “massacre of our gymnasts by judges from different countries”.

No evidence was provided to back up these claims of anti-Russian sentiment, which continued during the week in local media.

The Daily Beast reports a TV host for Russia’s state-owned media channel said these Olympics were “the clearest example of total Russophobia”.

“These Olympic Games stink,” said Olga Skabeeva. “Global sports forever ceased being an honest competition, turning into a cheap political farce.

“At the behest of Americans, the International Olympic Committee took away two gold medals from Russia.”

Zakharova added “global sports are in danger” because of the “gross injustice” inflicted upon Russian athletes in Japan.

After hoping China would reign supreme on top of the medal tally ahead of the US — a prophecy that didn’t eventuate — deputy speaker of the Russian Duma Pyotr Tolstoy called Americans “moral freaks”.

Russia didn’t receive much sympathy — certainly not from the US after American athletes suggested they were competing against rivals boasting an unfair advantage over the rest of the field.
 
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