The Russian national anthem rang again at the Paralympics on Wednesday, a day after Germany athletes appeared to stage a protest in the podium ceremony at Milan Cortina.
Ivan Golubkov won Russia’s third gold of these Games in the men’s Para cross-country 10km interval start sitting. Anastasiia Bagiian then added the nations’ fourth gold by winning the women’s Para cross-country 10km interval start classic for athletes with vision impaired.
”I am very happy,” Golubkov said. “I spent 20 years to get to this point. I was preparing for every race and planned to show a good performance in every race, but this race was very smooth, and it went very well.”
The anthem had played for the first time in more than a decade at the Paralympics on Monday, and again on Tuesday when Bagiian won the Para cross-country sprint classic.
Russian athletes are back competing under their own flag in the Winter Paralympics after years of having to do so as neutral athletes because of the country’s doping violations and military conflicts.
During the podium ceremony on Tuesday, German silver medalist Linn Kazmaier and her guide, Florian Baumann, looked down as the Russian flag was raised and the anthem was played. Then they kept their distance from the Russian athletes while posing for photos with the medals. While leaving the stage, they appeared to refuse to take a photo with the other podium finalists.
The German National Paralympic Committee said it “was an expression of solidarity with their friends, the Ukrainian athletes.”
There had been no incidents during the podium ceremony when Russian Para alpine skier Varvara Voronchikhina won gold on Monday. It is the first time Russia’s anthem was played at a major global sporting event since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and the first time it was heard at the Paralympics since the 2014 Games in Sochi.
Germany was among the nations that criticized the return of Russian athletes competing under their flag at the Milan Cortina Games. Some nations, including Ukraine, boycotted the opening ceremony on Friday.
The Russian national anthem for a gold medal win had not been heard at any Olympics or Paralympics since the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Summer Games.
Russian athletes were initially banned because of a state-sponsored doping program, and the sanctions had continued after the invasion.
Russia arrived at Milan Cortina with six athletes who were given wildcard entries by the International Paralympic Committee.
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AP Winter Paralympics: https://apnews.com/hub/paralympic-games
