“Now is the time for opportunities for the development of sports within the country with subsequent access to the international level” – Pivovarova

Russian tennis player Anastasia Pivovarova expressed the opinion that the removal of Russian athletes from official international competitions can be used to develop sports within the country.

“Of course, this is a serious blow. I will probably not say whether this is fair or not. On the one hand, when so much negativity arises, perhaps it would be less painful for some athletes not to compete in the international arena in such conditions. But in general, I am such a person that I consider any negative situation not as a drama, but as a time of opportunity. And now this is the time of opportunities for the development of sports within the country with subsequent access to the international level.

We still have the Soviet system in many sports – it is beautiful, but it has not been developed in any way. Many specialists left and there was no continuation. I hope that this situation will serve as an impetus for adapting the Soviet system of training athletes to modern realities in each sport. And in the future, we will have a new wave of excellent athletes who will take the highest places in the Olympics. I am sure that these restrictions will not last long, and such a sports power as ours will soon again compete in all international competitions,” Pivovarova told Gazeta.Ru.