The four-time Olympic artistic gymnastics champion spoke about refereeing during the performance of Russia’s Dina Averina in the rhythmic gymnastics individual all-around at the Tokyo Olympics. He noted that it is necessary to ask the judges why Dina was rated lower than her Israeli rival Lina Ashram, who lost the ribbon during her speech.
“Of course, like all Russian fans, I’m on Dina’s side. In my opinion, she did everything right, perfect. And why such low marks, it is necessary to ask questions to the jury. I’m really sorry that we have refereeing problems, it’s very bad, ”Nemov told Gazeta.Ru.
The renowned athlete spoke about the reaction of the Russian sports community to the incident. A number of experts admitted that the judges deliberately underestimated Dina’s score, and Nemov did not rule out that option. He stressed that special attention is always paid to Russian athletes.
“There was a lot of attention for us in Soviet times. And in this situation, anything is possible. But I wouldn’t attach such importance to it, because after all it is a sport. Again, you have to look at the jury – who judged and for what reasons they gave Dina such an assessment. I’d turn the conversation around on that plane. And the fact that we are constantly under fire is a fact. Here we have no choice but to be faster, higher and stronger, ”concluded Alexey Nemov.
Previously, the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova commented outrageous arbitration in the individual all-around competition in rhythmic gymnastics at the Olympic Games.
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