Russia can cross a new sport off the list of its chances of sending athletes under neutral status to the Paris 2024 Games. The European Fencing Confederation announced through its president, the Italian Giorgio Scarso, that no Russian or Belarusian fencer was among the entrants for the European Olympic qualifying tournament, organized at the end of the week (26 to 28) in Differdange, Luxembourg. “Unfortunately there are no Russian or Belarusian athletes, the official said during an online press conference. The registration limit has passed. The reason for their absence is not known, there is no official statement or letter to explain it. » The International Fencing Federation (FIE) was the first, last year, to reintegrate Russian athletes into its competitions, under conditions of neutrality. But Russian sports authorities have never made a secret of their intention not to send fencers to the 2024 Paris Games. “None of the Russian fencers will go to these Olympic Games”, said the president of the federation, Ilgar Mamedov, at the beginning of the month on the site sports.ru.
