Olympic gold medallist Viktoria Listunova will not be able to compete at the European Artistic Gymnastics Championships this week after she was denied a Croatian visa.
Nine members of the 65-strong Russian team and their staff were initially refused visas, although they were later granted to the other members of the squad other than Listunova.
The Russian Gymnastics Federation said the official reason given was that: “There is no justification for the purpose and conditions of the intended stay.”
Listunova’s teammates Anna Kalmykova and Angelina Melnikova, the reigning world all-around champion, were among those initially denied visas to the tournament in Croatia. Melnikova posted news of the decision to Instagram alongside a clown emoji, writing: “The sport only becomes great when the best go against the best. And when strong rivals are not allowed to the start, the most valuable thing disappears – fair competition.”
Listunova was part of the gold medal-winning team at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and won the European all-around title in 2021.
She has not competed internationally in over four years after a ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes was imposed in 2022, had her application for neutral status rejected last year.
The 21-year-old participated in a political rally in Moscow in March 2022 marking the eighth anniversary of the annexation of Crimea and in support of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, where she was seen wearing the infamous pro-war Z symbol.
The Russian federation blasted the decision, saying it amounted to “de facto deprivation of the leading Russian athletes of the opportunity to perform at the qualifying tournament” which “creates a dangerous precedent”.
“This calls into question the equal conditions for participation in qualifying competitions for athletes of all national federations,” it added.
This year’s European Championships are a continental qualifier for the World Championships later this year, where the first national quota spots for the LA Olympics in 2028 will be awarded.
World Gymnastics lifted a ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes competing internationally this May, although they will still be competing as neutral athletes in Zagreb this week, without flags, anthems, and symbols, according to European Gymnastics.
The governing body said last week: “In line with the transitional approach approved by the Extraordinary General Assembly on 28 July, following the World Gymnastics decision, the Croatian government decided to apply all measures relating to the non-use of Russian and Belarusian national flags, anthems, national symbols and national identifiers during these European Championships.”
