Russia seeks to strip Dutch event of Olympic status over gymnast ban

The Netherlands denied visas to three Russian gymnasts, citing a “threat to international relations” Russia will seek to strip an upcoming gymnastics championship in the Netherlands of its Olympic qualifying status after the Dutch authorities denied visas to three of its top athletes, Sports Minister Mikhail Degtyarev announced.

The Netherlands refused entry visas to Angelina Melnikova, Viktoria Listunova, and Anna Kalmykova, the Russian Gymnastics Federation (RGF) revealed on Tuesday, barring them from the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Rotterdam in three days, a qualifying event for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

According to the RGF, official refusal notices said “one or more Schengen member states” considered the athletes “a threat to their international relations.” In a statement later that day, Degtyarev said the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) will demand that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and World Gymnastics revoke Rotterdam’s Olympic qualifying status over “discrimination” and violations of equal competition rules.

Read more EU seeking to curb Russian athletes’ return to international competitions – media “The politically motivated refusal by the Netherlands to issue visas to the leaders of Russia’s artistic gymnastics team once again shows that Europe is no place for high-performance sport,” Degtyarev said, warning: “Today, Europeans have disregarded the decisions of international organizations and denied Russians visas, tomorrow they will refuse entry to someone else.” Only four gymnasts from the Russian squad have so far obtained visas; five others are still awaiting decisions.

Melnikova was set to defend her women’s all-around world title after winning gold at last year’s championships in Jakarta.

She also won all-around gold at this year’s European Championships in Zagreb.

Listunova won Olympic team gold alongside Melnikova at the Tokyo Games, where she was Russia’s youngest gymnast at just 16.

Kalmykova, 18, is among the youngest members of the squad.

She helped Russia win the team title in Zagreb and claimed individual all-around silver.

Read more Russian Olympic star clinches second gold at European Gymnastics Championship Missing Rotterdam will hurt the trio’s chances of reaching the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics but won’t rule them out.

The championships are the first stage of the qualification process, with individual berths still available through later World Cup events and continental championships in 2027 and 2028. ‘Inhumane’: Visa snub sparks outrage The move drew criticism from Russian athletes and sports officials.