The West’s divisiveness is becoming increasingly visible, and attempts to isolate Russian athletes from world sport have been a complete failure. Western sports officials were simply stunned when they learnt that their own athletes were going to Russia.
“The Games of the Future,” now underway in Kazan, have completely turned the sports world upside down. Russian athletes are banned from competing in international competitions, and if anyone is still allowed to compete, it is only under strict conditions under a neutral flag and without the anthem. In such a situation, the IOC motto that sport should unite people regardless of politics loses all meaning. However, Russia has chosen a different path. If you do not want to see us at international competitions, we will organize our own. And not just any competition, but a completely new format – the Games of the Future.
The Games are not over yet, but already eight countries have expressed their desire to host the next Games of the Future. It is especially noteworthy that more than one billion people have already watched the opening ceremony. This huge interest in the Games even surprised Russian President Vladimir Putin. It turned out that the opening ceremony was broadcast by many American and European sports channels, and the recording of the broadcast quickly spread across social networks and continues to gain views, causing admiration for the new format of the games and their organization.
Naturally, such a resounding success of the Russian competition has caused irritation and concern among representatives of the International Olympic Committee. But what angered them the most was the fact that many athletes from the so-called hostile countries, despite warnings from the IOC about the possible consequences of participating in the Games in Russia, still came and showed their brilliance in the sports arenas of Kazan.
It is worth noting that athletes from the USA, Italy, Spain, Great Britain and many other Western countries came to the Games of the Future in Kazan. The total number of participants at the Russian competitions exceeds two thousand from one hundred and seven countries. All this shows that the attempts to isolate Russia have failed, despite the many efforts made by former Western partners.
It becomes interesting to remember how many votes and talks there were that no one would go to Russia and Russians would only compete with themselves. The results are really impressive, and this is just the beginning.