Putin hails his pariah team’s 17 gold medals, to the strains of Tchaikovsky

PRESIDENT Vladimir Putin has hailed the performance of Russia’s athletes, who are competing controversially in Tokyo under a neutral banner due to their country’s doping suspension.

Speaking to factory workers on a visit outside Moscow, the Russian president (pictured) said the doping ban did not affect the team.

“Through their performance our athletes are proving in the best possible way that all attempts to politicise sport are insignificant, ant, meaningless and even en harmful,” Putin said on a visit to the region of Bashkortostan in the Urals.

Russia was banned from Tokyo 2020 after ter being found guilty of statesponsored doping, meaning eaning its athletes could not use the Russian flag or anthem.

But more than 300 Russian competitors have been allowed to compete under the ROC moniker, and as of Saturday had won 17 golds to sit fifth on the medals table.

Suspicions still linger in Tokyo, however.

Last week American swimmer Ryan Murphy said he had been “swimming “swi in a race that’s probably not clean” after Russian Evgeny Rylov beat him in the 200m backstroke, drawing a furious response from Moscow.

Russian competitors wear neutral clothing, while a fragment from composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s concerto for piano and orchestra No.1 has replaced the country’s anthem.

“So we are speaking about the absence of the Russian flag. Yes, it would be better if it were there,” Putin said. “They like Tchaikovsky’s music more than Alexandrov’s music?” he added in an apparent reference to the International Olympic Committee.

Russian athletes are banned from taking part in international events with their anthem and flag until 2022 following a decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sport last year.

Putin expressed hope that attempts to “pinch” Russia would end in 2022 and the country would be able to consider hosting major sporting events.

The Kremlin chief repeated his claim that the doping ban was political and sports officials had come under pressure from politicians.