Russian wrestlers will not refuse to participate in the Olympics following judokas, Mamiashvili said

The President of the Russian Wrestling Federation, Mikhail Mamiashvili, told Match TV that Russian wrestlers will not refuse to participate in the Olympic Games in Paris.

On Friday, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) allowed four Russian judokas to participate in the Summer Olympics in Paris as neutrals. The list included Valery Endovitsky, Elis Startseva, Dali Liluashvili and Makhmadbek Makhmadbekov. In total, the Russian team had 12 quotas for participation in the Games – 7 men’s and 5 women’s. The President of the Russian Judo Federation, Sergei Soloveichik, then announced that Russian judokas would not compete in the 2024 Games.

“As for us, our guys have qualified. And the decision to participate in the Games is their personal decision, as is the coaches’. We must go this way to the end,” Mamiashvili told Match TV.

In mid-June, the IOC announced the names of ten Russian wrestlers who received neutral status to compete at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris. They are Nachyn Mongush, Shamil Mamedov, Arslan Bagayev, Abdulla Kurbanov, Alan Ostayev, Magomed Murtazaliev, Natalia Malysheva, Veronika Chumikova, Alina Kasabieva and Elizaveta Petlyakova. Murtazaliev and Ostayev compete in the Greco-Roman style. Chumikova later withdrew from the competition.

In February 2022, the IOC recommended that sports federations not allow Russians and Belarusians to participate in international tournaments. The recommendations were later relaxed, and in December 2023, IOC President Thomas Bach announced that the organization would allow Russian and Belarusian athletes who successfully passed the selection to participate in the 2024 Summer Games in individual neutral status. Athletes will be able to compete in Paris without a flag, anthem, or other national symbols.

The Games in Paris will be held from July 26 to August 11.