Russian official slams West for distorting Olympic principles

VLADIVOSTOK, September 6. /TASS/. The West has distorted the Olympic principles but Russia has a chance to bring sports back to morality, Dmitry Petrovsky, member of the Russia-China Friendship Society’s Commission for Cultural and Humanitarian Cooperation, told TASS.
According to him, the Olympic principles kept changing over time and eventually, sports “was cut off from any values.” “Russia has been left out of the Olympic movement. Meanwhile, the Paris Olympics offered a surprising show. Do Russian athletes want to share the understanding of the Olympic principles that was presented in France, including the omnivorous acceptance of sin that the International Olympic Committee prompts nowadays? I guess they don’t,” he said on the sidelines of the Eastern Economic Forum.
According to Petrovsky, Russia was capable of rethinking the Olympic principles after the West launched a large-scale campaign against the country.
“I think what is going on in international sports, on the one hand, is very painful for Russia but on the other hand, this is a historic chance for us,” Petrovsky noted. “This is an opportunity for Russia to create a sports industry based on traditional values and rally people around the idea of sports that addresses the physical skills of athletes along with their morals.”
According to Petrovsky, various sporting events that have recently taken place in Russia, including the Games of the Future, turned out to be attractive for athletes. “We have a long way to go to get rid of the outdated belief that the international Olympic movement is more important than our national interests. However, I think this is the path that our national sports industry should adopt. In this regard, Russia is paying more and more attention to sports in Asia, Asian federations and Asian games. I see bright prospects here,” he concluded.