The opening ceremony of the XXXIII Summer Olympic Games in Paris takes place on July 26. According to the IOC website, only 15 athletes from Russia will take part in them. Who are they?
Three Russian athletes will compete for medals in cycling. Tamara Dronova is a multiple winner in international and Russian competitions and currently is 30 years old. Dronova also recently won a gold medal at the Russian road cycling championship.
Alena is only 20 years old, but has already spent more than half of her life on a bicycle. Ivanchenko is the reigning world junior champion. At the 2024 Olympic Games, she will compete in the group race.
Gleb Syrytsa replaced Alexander Vlasov on the list, who had previously withdrawn, citing an unsuitable course. At only 24 years of age, Syritsa is a relatively young athlete, but he has already achieved first places in junior and youth world and European championships.
Angela is an athlete from St. Petersburg. She has just turned 19 years old and has already won at the Junior World Championships three years in a row. She is also the reigning Russian champion. “We are counting on gold. It is important to be not only technically, but also morally strong,” she told reporters in St. Petersburg.
The largest number of athletes from Russia are expected to compete in tennis competitions. Among them is Daniil Medvedev, one of the most famous tennis players in the world. However, he is quite skeptical, since he will have to play on an unfamiliar surface for him. “I don't like to change surfaces... I need time to adapt,” he told reporters. “But I'll try, I'll go there, I'll enjoy it and I'll do my best on the dirt.”
Born outside of Moscow in 1997, Roman Safiullin was, at one point, one of the top three junior tennis players in the world. Three years ago, he made his senior Grand Glam debut. He is currently ranked 67th in the world.
Safiullin and Medvedev will play both in the singles and doubles competitions.
Chelyabinsk-born Ekaterina Alexandrova is currently ranked 22nd in the world. This will be the first Olympic Games for the 29-year-old. Alexandrova will be paired with the famous tennis player Elena Vesnina in the women’s doubles competition.
Vesnina is 37 years old. She is the 2016 Olympic champion, silver medalist at the 2020 Games, winner of three Grand Slam tournaments, and a host of other honors. It was in doubles that she won her Olympic medals.
The youngest Russian athlete at the 2024 Olympics is just 17 years old. Last year, the teenage sensation from Krasnoyarsk was recognized as the world's first racket in the junior rankings. Her older sister Erika is also a professional tennis player.
Pavel Kotov is 25 years old, was born in Moscow and made his debut in senior tournaments back in 2020. Kotov finished 8th at the recent Wimbledon Grand Slam. He is currently ranked 60th in the ATP rankings.
This 20-year-old tennis player hails from Samara Region and began to make a name for herself in senior tournaments not too long ago. In 2022, she was the second racket in the world in the ITF junior ranking.
Athletes Zakhar Petrov and Alexey Korovashkov are scheduled to compete in Paris. Both are multiple champions of World and European championships.
Petrov was born in 2004 in Ryazan Region. He trained at a local sports school and made it to the Russian junior national team.
The athlete will compete in two races: 1,000 meters in a single canoe and 500 meters in tandem with Korovashkov.
Alexey Korovashkov, meanwhile, is 32 years old and was a bronze medalist at the 2012 Olympic Games. He has been part of the Russian senior national canoeing team for 15 years and has successfully performed in tandem canoeing.
Olesya Romasenko is 34 years old. She has been competing for the Russian national team since 2013. She has won the World Championships five times and the European Championships twice. At the last Olympic Games, she took 7th place in the women's 200 meters race.
The only swimming quota for athletes with a Russian passport went to 25-year-old Evgeny Somov. He was born in St. Petersburg and competed for the Russian junior national team and, after school, he continued his training in the U.S.
In May 2024, he made his mark in the 100 meters race in Atlanta. Somov finished with the third fastest time of the world season - 58.72 seconds. At the Olympics, he is determined to win a medal.
From July 27, we will see him and the 14 other aforementioned Russian athletes in action.
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