The Netherlands denied visas to three Russian gymnasts, citing a \u201cthreat to international relations\u201d<\/p>\n
Russia will seek to strip an upcoming gymnastics championship in the Netherlands of its Olympic qualifying status after the Dutch authorities denied visas to three of its top athletes, Sports Minister Mikhail Degtyarev announced.
\nThe Netherlands refused entry visas to Angelina Melnikova, Viktoria Listunova, and Anna Kalmykova, the Russian Gymnastics Federation (RGF) revealed on Tuesday, barring them from the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Rotterdam in three days, a qualifying event for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. According to the RGF, official refusal notices said \u201cone or more Schengen member states\u201d considered the athletes \u201ca threat to their international relations.\u201d
\nIn a statement later that day, Degtyarev said the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) will demand that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and World Gymnastics revoke Rotterdam\u2019s Olympic qualifying status over \u201cdiscrimination\u201d and violations of equal competition rules.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThe politically motivated refusal by the Netherlands to issue visas to the leaders of Russia\u2019s artistic gymnastics team once again shows that Europe is no place for high-performance sport,\u201d Degtyarev said, warning: \u201cToday, Europeans have disregarded the decisions of international organizations and denied Russians visas, tomorrow they will refuse entry to someone else.\u201d
\nOnly four gymnasts from the Russian squad have so far obtained visas; five others are still awaiting decisions.
\nMelnikova was set to defend her women\u2019s all-around world title after winning gold at last year\u2019s championships in Jakarta. She also won all-around gold at this year\u2019s European Championships in Zagreb. Listunova won Olympic team gold alongside Melnikova at the Tokyo Games, where she was Russia\u2019s youngest gymnast at just 16. Kalmykova, 18, is among the youngest members of the squad. She helped Russia win the team title in Zagreb and claimed individual all-around silver.<\/p>\n
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Missing Rotterdam will hurt the trio\u2019s chances of reaching the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics but won\u2019t rule them out. The championships are the first stage of the qualification process, with individual berths still available through later World Cup events and continental championships in 2027 and 2028.
\n\u2018Inhumane\u2019: Visa snub sparks outrage
\nThe move drew criticism from Russian athletes and sports officials. The RGF called it \u201cdirect discrimination against Russian athletes\u201d and a \u201ca flagrant violation of the principle of equal conditions for Olympic qualification.\u201d RGF Vice President Nikita Nagorny called the situation \u201cdisgusting.\u201d
\nTwo-time Olympic gymnastics champion Lidia Ivanova accused the Dutch of deliberately sidelining Russia\u2019s strongest competitors.
\n\u201cWith this decision, they are demonstrating their weakness,\u201d she told Match TV. \u201cThey did this knowing full well that they were denying visas to top Russian gymnasts… It\u2019s sheer nastiness.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Olympic speed skating champion Svetlana Zhurova also accused the Dutch of shutting out strong rivals, telling RT that politicizing sports is destroying it.
\nReacting on social media, Melnikova said she \u201cfelt like crying\u201d and called the actions \u201cinhumane.\u201d
\n\u201cIf they keep mixing sport with politics to such an extent, it will become a complete nightmare,\u201d she said, posting\u00a0a team photograph with the caption: \u201cThis is what the Netherlands considers a threat to international relations.\u201d
\nWestern bans and Russian medals
\nRussian and Belarusian athletes were excluded from numerous international competitions following the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022, after an IOC recommendation and bans imposed by individual federations. Earlier this year, the IOC provisionally lifted its suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee, opening the way for a broader return. Several federations, including World Gymnastics, have since eased their restrictions.<\/p>\n
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The shift has met resistance in the EU, a strong supporter of Ukraine. Nine member states, including the Netherlands, urged Brussels in an open letter to cut funding for international sporting bodies that readmit Russian and Belarusian athletes. On Monday, EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas promised proposals to \u201csustain Russia\u2019s isolation in global sports.\u201d
\nRussia has called the bans on its athletes politically motivated and \u201ccowardly.\u201d Despite the restrictions, Russian athletes have continued to win titles wherever they are allowed to compete.
\nLast week, Inal Tasoev won gold in the men\u2019s over-100 kg division at the 2026 World Judo Championships in Baku. In August, Russian artistic swimmers swept all three golds awarded on the opening day of the World Junior Aquatics Championships in Budapest. In July, Pavel Graudyn won the men\u2019s individual saber title at the World Fencing Championships in Hong Kong, and Russian junior figure skaters swept all four disciplines at an ISU Junior Grand Prix event in China in August, returning after a four-year ban.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Netherlands denied visas to three Russian gymnasts, citing a \u201cthreat to international relations\u201d Russia will seek to strip an upcoming gymnastics championship in the Netherlands of its Olympic qualifying…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":39854,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39853","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t