The Russian Gymnastics Federation has announced that three athletes, including Olympic champions Angelina Melnikova and Viktoria Listunova, have been refused visas to attend the world championships commencing this Saturday in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Melnikova, who was set to defend her title in the women’s all-around event, would have participated in the weeklong competition, which serves as a team qualifying event for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
In response to the visa denials, Russian officials are planning to request the International Olympic Committee and World Gymnastics to revoke the world championships’ status as a qualifier for the Los Angeles Olympics, as stated by sports minister Mikhail Degtyaryov on social media.
Both Melnikova and Listunova secured gold medals in the team event at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, surpassing a United States team that did not include Simone Biles, who had withdrawn from the competition. The Russian delegation was scheduled to include 18-year-old Anna Kalmykova, alongside four other Russian gymnasts who were permitted entry into the Netherlands, according to reports from Russian media sources.
In May, Russian gymnasts were given the green light by World Gymnastics to compete internationally without restrictions, following years of being either banned or required to undergo vetting for neutral status amid the military conflict in Ukraine. However, countries hosting sports events still retain the authority to deny visas on political or security grounds.
Notably, at the 2024 Paris Olympics, there were no Russian participants in the artistic gymnastics category.