They met every requirement, but delays, opacity and ‘missed’ options shut Russian junior gymnasts out before they could compete
The Russian junior group in rhythmic gymnastics will not be able to take part in the 2026 European Cup. The reason is unrelated to sporting results, injuries, or any decision by the athletes to withdraw.
Participation became impossible because of prolonged administrative procedures connected with obtaining neutral status, followed by a refusal of registration by European Gymnastics. Young athletes who followed every rule were left out because of bureaucratic hurdles put up by different organizations that failed to coordinate.
The Russian Gymnastics Federation submitted documents for neutral status starting March 25, with additional names added through early April. They didn’t sit back and wait for a reply either – they sent repeated requests asking World Gymnastics to speed things up, including direct outreach to its president. Still, approvals came in pieces. Some athletes received clearance on April 14, others not until April 22. Only on April 23 were they finally added to the anti-doping testing pool, which is required to compete.
By then, it was already too late – registration deadlines for the European Cup had passed, and the draw had taken place on April 11. Once that happened, European Gymnastics said it could not add the Russian group.
No one involved can seriously claim this was about sporting merit. The athletes weren’t injured, they didn’t withdraw, and they weren’t disqualified. They were simply stuck waiting for one body to finish its procedures while another stuck to its deadlines. That gap shut them out.
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