Something is rotten in the state of Russia and it's Andrei Rodionenko's mouth.
In an article posted on Oct. 21, Rodionenko, head of the Russian Gymnastics federation stuck his foot in his mouth by saying some very terrible things to say the least. I'm disgusted at this behavior.
He gave an interview on VTBRussia.com about his thoughts post worlds. To be blunt, it's racist, xenophobic and everything that you would not think to hear coming from the head of an Olympic sport delegation. In this interview, he talks about the Russian Comedy of Errors and the American's success and their alleged "lack of innovation." It's the ever popular game "Hey let's blame the Americans for our internal failures." Even worse, it's "I'm going to say nasty racist things about Simone Biles, a girl who did nothing wrong than to achieve a goal she's dreamed about forever." He's also quoted insulting some judges of the Muslim faith by blaming them for Aliya's issue of the mixed grip Seitz. I'm not going to publish what he said here, because it's disgusting. I'm disgusted once again and I'm perplexed that at this day in age, people still have this attitude. Last I checked, it was 2013, not 1963.
What does the color of someone's skin have to do with their athletic abilities? Nothing. For that matter, what does one's religion have to do with their judging abilities? This behavior is absolutely disgusting. After this outburst, I'm really hoping that the Russian Ministry of Sport fires both Andrei and his wife. Sport is supposed to be a safe place where athletes come together with the common goal of the pursuit of perfection and transcendence, not a place where we cut down someone who did better than we did. Instead of blaming something so arbitrary, why doesn't Andrei work on running the organization so it produces efficient athletes who are prepared to represent their country at an international competition. Maybe he could start by some consistency with coaching instead of driving away good coaches.
Here is a partial translation if you are really curious.
In an article posted on Oct. 21, Rodionenko, head of the Russian Gymnastics federation stuck his foot in his mouth by saying some very terrible things to say the least. I'm disgusted at this behavior.
He gave an interview on VTBRussia.com about his thoughts post worlds. To be blunt, it's racist, xenophobic and everything that you would not think to hear coming from the head of an Olympic sport delegation. In this interview, he talks about the Russian Comedy of Errors and the American's success and their alleged "lack of innovation." It's the ever popular game "Hey let's blame the Americans for our internal failures." Even worse, it's "I'm going to say nasty racist things about Simone Biles, a girl who did nothing wrong than to achieve a goal she's dreamed about forever." He's also quoted insulting some judges of the Muslim faith by blaming them for Aliya's issue of the mixed grip Seitz. I'm not going to publish what he said here, because it's disgusting. I'm disgusted once again and I'm perplexed that at this day in age, people still have this attitude. Last I checked, it was 2013, not 1963.
What does the color of someone's skin have to do with their athletic abilities? Nothing. For that matter, what does one's religion have to do with their judging abilities? This behavior is absolutely disgusting. After this outburst, I'm really hoping that the Russian Ministry of Sport fires both Andrei and his wife. Sport is supposed to be a safe place where athletes come together with the common goal of the pursuit of perfection and transcendence, not a place where we cut down someone who did better than we did. Instead of blaming something so arbitrary, why doesn't Andrei work on running the organization so it produces efficient athletes who are prepared to represent their country at an international competition. Maybe he could start by some consistency with coaching instead of driving away good coaches.
Here is a partial translation if you are really curious.
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