Motorsports
Changed citizenship, but did not betray Russia. The graceful act of our athlete
Konstantin Zhiltsov / Photo: © Shaun Botterill / Staff / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru
The strongest Russian navigator chose a career, but did not abandon his native country. Zhiltsov’s paradox.
It so happened historically that auto racing cannot be called a “Russian” sport. Of all the variety of disciplines, our country dominates only in trucks, constantly winning the most prestigious Dakar rally-raid in this standings.
But there are individual Russian heroes who deservedly stand apart in other classifications. For example, navigator Konstantin Zhiltsov, who won third place in the off-road category in 2013.
On the eve of the next Dakar, the Russian was offered to publicly renounce his homeland in exchange for the opportunity to speak. However, Zhiltsov did not go along with the Russophobes and avoided signing the vile paper.
How did he do it?
Top navigator
For the average Russian fan, interest in auto racing wakes up only during broadcasts of Formula 1 or watching Dakar on New Year’s holidays, so it is not surprising that someone may hear the name of Konstantin Zhiltsov for the first time.
But our navigator in the automotive world has long been known to everyone. His debut at the Dakar happened in 2005 in a crew with Alexei Vasiliev. After that, there were several more attempts to conquer the marathon, then a pause and participation in the Africa Race (a race in Africa along the route of the classic Dakar). In 2013, Zhiltsov returned to the rally raid, which by that time had already migrated from Africa to South America.
That year, paired with pilot Leonid Novitsky, he conquered the highest peak for Russian duets in the SUV category so far – third place. Before and after that, we were not on the podiums. By this time, the navigator had already worked with world-class pilot Jean-Louis Schlesser, a two-time winner of the Paris-Dakar in his own designed machine.
The duet with a French pilot and working in a strong German X-Raid team gave our navigator a fantastic experience, so for 15 years he has been at the top level, while leading the union of navigators. The unofficial leader of all professionals in this category in the world.
Hard choice
Naturally, at the beginning of March for the 57-year-old navigator, as well as for many of our athletes from other sports, turbulent times came. The International Motorsport Federation first forbade Russian athletes to compete under its own flag, and on March 4 offered a very vile solution for our racers: to sign a declaration of commitment to the principles of peace and political neutrality.
A document with such a pathetic name is in fact an official renunciation of the motherland. According to it, the signatories agree to the prohibition to publicly or through social networks show any Russian national symbols, colors or flags, as well as display them on a uniform or car. In addition, race drivers were banned from using the words “Russian” and “Russia” on uniforms and cars.
Such open Russophobia seems like someone’s stupid joke, but in practice this is a real requirement of the organization headed by Mohammed bin Sulayem.
“I have a Russian passport”
To understand the situation that Zhiltsov found himself in, it should be noted that since 2022 the Dakar has become part of the World Rally Raid Championship held under the auspices of the International Automobile Federation. Therefore, all Russians planning to perform in Saudi Arabia (December 31, 2022 – January 15, 2023) found themselves in an unenviable situation.
Of course, there is no convenient way out of it, but Zhiltsov tried to listen to his conscience and did not sign the politicized document. However, he will still perform at the Dakar:
– I made myself a set of documents. And at the stage of the Russian Championship in Ulyanovsk, I will already perform as a foreign athlete. It is necessary to chase, otherwise you lose your skills, and then you need to stop all this altogether. A career in professional sports is quite short-lived, so you need to make some cardinal decisions, – stated the navigator.
Zhiltsov admitted that he received Israeli sports citizenship and a license. This is not the first case in recent times when this country gives our athletes the opportunity to continue their international careers. Most recently, our best track cyclist Mikhail Yakovlev passed under their flag.
There is a strong feeling that Zhiltsov is not the last from the world of motorsport who will change the country for the sake of the Dakar. Another Russian racer Sergey Karjakin notes that all Russian athletes are asked to sign this declaration, but Karjakin himself does not want to sign it. This means that it is quite possible that he will also be forced to seek refuge in another state.
Zhiltsov himself confirmed that his partner Denis Krotov, who completed last year’s rally-raid in the top ten, is also engaged in a change of citizenship. We are losing the best representatives of this profession in the geometric profession.
Of course, the international federation can say that it gave the Russians a chance not to change the country, but we understand perfectly well that this is vile blackmail, which is used by the respected leaders of an organization with a 100-year history. Not ashamed?
Source: Sportbox
Sophia Jhon is a sports journalist and author. He has worked as a news editor for Sportish and is now a sport columnist for the same publication. Alberta’s professional interests lie largely in sports news, with an emphasis on English football. He has also written articles on other sporting topics.