On February 24, 2025, exactly three years will have passed since the government was ruled by Vladimir Putin Russia criminally invaded Ukraine. People are dying every day, and the country of our eastern neighbors is becoming more and more devastated. Since it all started, athletes from Russia and its supporting Belarus have been either excluded from international sports competitions, or at least have to compete without a flag or under a neutral one.
Russia and Belarus admitted to the European Championship
Cycling Track racing has so far been one of the disciplines that has approached the topic more ruthlessly. In most cases, Russians and Belarusians could not take part in the competition. Unfortunately, although the war is still ongoing and does not seem to be ending soon, the cycling authorities are starting to change their approach.
The European Track Cycling Championships will be held from February 12 to 16, 2025 in Heusden-Zolder, Belgium, almost on the anniversary of the outbreak of the war. A year ago there would be no question of Russians taking part in the championship, but now the situation is different. The European Cycling Union allowed local cyclists (and Belarusian ones) to start as “individual neutral athletes“. This caused quite a controversy, but the decision was upheld. What will be the reaction of Poles to this fact? Do we intend to boycott the championship with the participation of Russians?
The president of PZKol does not want a repeat of the unfriendly entertainment
The WP SportoweFakty portal asked the president of PZKol, Marek Leśniewski, about this. The 1988 Olympic vice-champion in the team time trial from Seoul said that although the UEC's decision was wrong, there would be no boycott. Why?
– I am from the generation of athletes who were barred from participating in the Olympic Games in Los Angeles. That's why I'm not going to threaten to boycott the White and Reds if they actually start in Belgium players from Russia. It would be unfair to our athletes who have been preparing for these competitions for many months. It's hard for me to imagine that Polish athletes will again become victims of the system, as it was in the past, said LeÅ›niewski.
The Russians are already getting ready
The former cyclist also emphasized that nothing has really changed since 2022. However, some of the admitted Russians are already preparing to leave. – In my opinion, nothing has changed since February 2022 to welcome Russians into the international community. We need to speak out loud about what is still happening beyond our eastern border. Because the war is still going on, innocent people are still dying. However, from what I know, some cyclists who have the status of a “neutral athlete” are currently arranging visas to be able to take part in the European Championships – said the president of the PZKol.
Let us recall that in 1984, socialist countries, led by the USSR, boycotted the Olympic Games in Los Angeles, USA. All in revenge for the fact that the USA and several other countries of the “capitalist West” did the same four years earlier on the occasion of the Olympic Games in Moscow in 1980.