Last April 13, the international federation established the definitive readmission to its events, with immediate effect, of Russian and Belarusian athletes. But European Aquatics distanced itself, asking for the rule to come into force after the European Championships have concluded, at the urging of several Nordic countries which would otherwise be ready to boycott the competitions.
The notes of the Russian anthem have once again resounded in world sport. Exactly one week from Victory Day, which is celebrated on May 9th every year to commemorate the surrender of Nazi Germany during the Second World War, on Saturday May 2nd Kira Cherezova and Valentina Gerasimova won the final of the free duo in the stage of the Artistic Swimming World Cup held in Xi’an (China). And on the podium, together with their compatriots Kristina Chekhanova and Anastasiia Sidorina and the Japanese Moe Higa and Tomoka Sato, they were able to listen to the song written in 2000 by Sergej Michalkov for the first time in over four years. In fact, it hasn’t happened since January 30, 2022, when in Innsbruck (Austria) Sergei Bukuev, Nikita Proshin and Vsevolod Yatov won the gold medal in the team sprint of the Youth World Speed Skating Championships. In a few days the Winter Olympics in Beijing would begin, with Russia called Roc (in English Russian Olympic Committee) due to the state doping scandal, and on 24 February 2022 the invasion of Ukraine began which is still underway. In Xi’an, in total, Russia won three gold, three silver and two bronze.