The Russian Olympic Commitee lashed out at Olympic judges on Saturday after unsuccessfully challenging the results of the gymnastics final which saw Israel's Linoy Ashram edge out three-time world champion Dina Averina ending two decades of Russian hegemony in rhythmic gymnastics.
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The committee accused the judges of "unjust scoring," which, they claimed, undeservedly favored the Israeli athlete.
"The situation is surreal," Irina Viner-Usmanova, head of the All-Russian Federation of Rhythmic Gymnastics, said. "Is everyone tired of Russia winning all the gold? It seems that way.
"We had a more or less worthy opponent, but that is all. The girl from Israel received the same score in the finals as in Friday's qualifiers even though in the finals she made such a huge mistake," Viner-Usmanova said, referring to Ashram dropping her ribbon in an otherwise flawless routine.
The committee tried to appeal the scores several times, including for Averina's final routine, but was rebuffed each time.
The loss hit such a sore spot for Russia that not even lawmakers could help get involved in the matter.
Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova took to social media to lament what she claimed was a conspiracy against Russian athletes.
"The bastards who started the Russophobic war against sports just couldn't allow Russia to win. That is why we saw injustice on the world stage," she wrote.
Russian Sports Minister Oleg Matytsin joined in, as well.
"I think everyone who watched the competition today [Saturday] has a lot of questions about [the fairness of] the judges. It is no coincidence that many appeals were filed today against their decisions by athletes from various countries. Dina Avrina is a true champion, and she deserves a gold medal."
President of the Russian Olympic Committee Stanislav Pozdnyakov told the media he would not turn a blind eye to the "injustice."
"I'm already preparing an official appeal to the International Gymnastics Federation and the Technical Committee. We will do our best to ensure that the inquiry is conducted with transparency, and will publish the results."
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A tearful Averina also lamented not winning a gold medal.
"I don't feel that it was fair today, and it was obvious for me from the very first routine for which I got a lower score," she said to reporters. "I can't spot any obvious mistake that I made. I was pretty consistent, compared to Linoy, who failed to catch her ribbon."
Ashram's victory represents the first time a Russian rhythmic gymnast failed to win the event since the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. They have won gold in 12 of the past 14 world championships.
One of the two times they missed out was in 2001, when Alina Kabaeva was stripped of her title after testing positive for a banned diuretic. Over the years, Russia has found itself in the midst of a number of doping scandals.
On Sunday, Bulgaria's perfect co-ordination helped them bag gold in the rhythmic gymnastics group event at the Tokyo Olympics on Sunday.
In the two rotations − five balls; three hoops and two clubs − Bulgaria scored 92.100 points, weighted towards the first round.
The Russian Olympic Committee scored 90.700 points overall, taking silver, while Italy won the bronze with 87.700 points. Russian athletes are competing under the ROC flag in Tokyo as part of sanctions for doping scandals.
i24NEWS and Reuters contributed to this report.
