Ski jumping scandal: FIS decision on Russian Klimov angers Poland

The International Ski Federation (FIS) has allowed Russian Yevgeny Klimov to return to the Ski Jumping World Cup, and the decision has caused a storm of outrage in Poland. Klimov is the first Russian ever to win an individual World Cup event, and a silver medallist in the mixed team event at the Beijing Olympics. But after the invasion of Ukraine began, he openly voiced support for President Vladimir Putin and his war, attending a rally in Moscow with a letter Z on his jacket.

“This is a gigantic scandal. The very idea of letting Russians back in is detached from reality and out of proportion to the circumstances. Now other lines have been crossed as well,” said former Polish ski jumper and federation official Jakub Kot in an interview with the website Sportowe Fakty. Only so-called neutral Russians, who refuse to take part in pro-war propaganda, were supposed to be allowed back on the international stage.

Visas and events in Poland

“Either FIS does not know at all whom it is letting back, which I find hard to believe, or it has simply given up and thinks this has dragged on long enough and it is time to return to normal. Someone needs to explain this very quickly, although I suspect it will not change anything in practice,” Kot lamented.

He pointed out that permission to compete is one thing, and the ability to enter a country is another. In his view, Klimov and others like him should not be given Polish visas, and at the very least they should not be allowed to start at events in Poland. “I find it hard to imagine Putin’s friend Klimov competing in Wisła, for example. It simply will not happen,” Kot said. Paradoxically, Klimov’s only World Cup win came in Wisła, Poland, in 2018.

“I saw how he supported Putin. This man is unworthy of competing on our hills,” Andrzej Wąsowicz of the Wisła organizing committee said in an interview with Eurosport.

Who is missing from the list

Incidentally, amid the return of Russians to winter sports, it was surprising that the FIS list of Russians cleared to compete internationally does not include cross-country skiing star Savelii Korostelev, although he already competed last season. He fought for a medal at the Olympics in Cortina and Milan, and took no noticeable pro-war or pro-Putin actions. “It is a big surprise to me too,” Korostelev said after the list was published.

Around Prague, based on reporting by sport.cz