Five-time Olympic champion Lopez Nunez: “I am very sorry that my friend Sadulaev and other Russians were not allowed into Paris”

Five-time Olympic champion in Greco-Roman wrestling, Cuban Mijain Lopez Nunez, said that Russian athletes were not allowed to participate in the Olympic Games in Paris for political reasons.

42-year-old Lopez Nunez won his fifth Olympic gold in his career in Paris, winning the 130 kg weight category. After the final fight, the Cuban ended his sports career.

— It is wonderful that I was able to realize my dream and win my fifth gold medal at the Olympic Games. However, I am equally happy that I was able to shake hands with Alexander Karelin in Novosibirsk, a man who has always been a guiding star for me in sports.

Every athlete is a kind of ambassador who teaches young people how to become champions. In the arena, we are rivals, but when the fight is over, we become friends again. I am very sorry that my friend Abdulrashid Sadulaev and other Russian athletes were not allowed to go to Paris. It was a discriminatory decision made to please political interests that have no place in sports, the press service of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) quotes Lopez as saying.

The Paris Olympics ended on August 11. 15 Russian athletes competed in the competitions as neutrals.

• “All the results I have achieved were achieved thanks to Karelin” – five-time Olympic champion Lopez Nunez