The International Gymnastics Federation responded Thursday to an appeal from the Russian Olympic Committee over the scoring of the rhythmic gymnastics event in which Israel's Linoy Ashram won the gold medal. Ashram edged out three-time world champion Dina Averina at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, ending two decades of Russian hegemony in the field.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter
In a statement, the FIG said it had "carried out a thorough post-competition review of all evaluation components in every phase of the Rhythmic Gymnastics competitions at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. Following this process, we can confirm that no bias or irregularities were identified in the judging panels.
"The Rhythmic Gymnastics Technical Committee, therefore, confirms that the rankings and results of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games competitions in Rhythmic Gymnastics for both Individuals and Groups are fair and impartial," the federation said.
Federation members said they were "appalled to learn that several judges from the Rhythmic Gymnastics panels have been receiving many threats and hateful messages since the Olympic competitions. These attempts to destabilize judges are utterly unacceptable."
The ROC had lashed out at Olympic judges after unsuccessfully challenging the results of the gymnastics final, accusing them 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.
On social media, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova wrote: "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."
ROC President 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."
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, the most recent of which led to them being banned from competing under the Russian flag in Tokyo.
Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!
