A group of Olympic athletes who fled Russia following the invasion of Ukraine are hoping to represent the United States at future Olympics.
Three Russian fencers, Konstantin Rokhanov, Sergei Vida and Violetta Vida, are receiving help in their quest for U.S. citizenship from the United States Olympic Committee and the country's fencing association.
“All three of these men have made great personal sacrifices and risked their lives to represent our country,” Phil Andrews, CEO of the National Fencing Association, told Congress in a Jan. 5 letter. “I'm exposing myself to it,” he said.
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The Paris 2024 Olympic Games logo can be seen on one of the official Paris 2024 Olympic T-shirts on display in a shop at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport in Roissy-en-France, France. (Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
“We ask that all efforts be made to support them during this extraordinary situation,” he added.
As the 2024 Paris Olympics approaches, the main obstacle facing fencers is citizenship. Matches are scheduled to begin on July 24th.
“Olympic selection is highly contested, and of course there is a pressing need to simply obtain citizenship in order to be selected through the ranking system used to determine the majority of the USA team,” Andrews told USA Today. told.
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According to a report from USA Today, Sergei Vida and Violetta Vida are newlyweds and are expecting their first child this year.
Due to pregnancy, Violetta will not be able to compete in Paris.
Konstantin Rokhanov was previously married to the daughter of the president of the Russian Olympic Committee. The couple divorced after Rokhanov decided to flee Russia to protest the invasion and his wife refused to accompany him.
The logo of the Russian Olympic Committee can be seen at the committee's headquarters in Moscow. (Reuters/Maxim Shemetov)
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Lawyers representing Russian Olympians are in touch with U.S. representatives and senators seeking support for a bill that would grant citizenship to Olympians.
The legal team is led by former Olympic fencer Jack Weiner, who is taking on the case pro bono.
