Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo said on Saturday Russian and Belarusian athletes "were not welcome" at the Olympics being staged in the French capital this year.
I’m in the UK, and I don’t think the British (or any other European country) particularly gives a fuck about how any of those countries do. Ask most people in the UK who America’s best gymnast was and most couldn’t tell you.
What people want to see is the best, which to do so needs involvement from the largest countries (the three named). If any of these countries is banned from these sports, chances are that any funding for them is killed pretty quickly, and suddenly those great athletes aren’t world-beaters any more.
Is it?
I’m in the UK, and I don’t think the British (or any other European country) particularly gives a fuck about how any of those countries do. Ask most people in the UK who America’s best gymnast was and most couldn’t tell you.
What people want to see is the best, which to do so needs involvement from the largest countries (the three named). If any of these countries is banned from these sports, chances are that any funding for them is killed pretty quickly, and suddenly those great athletes aren’t world-beaters any more.
Like I said, it’s about viewership, and the UK brings very little of that compared to the US, Russia, and China.
If you really cared to see the best, you’d know who Simone Biles is. Everyone tunes in to see their guys win.