Putin confident that Russian athletes will prove their skills at Tokyo Paralympics

NOVO-OGARYOVO, August 9. /TASS/. The banning of Russian Paralympic athletes from the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games became one of the most convincing examples showing that politics is directly interfering in sports, while Russian Paralympic athletes will now prove their worth at the Tokyo Paralympics, Russian President Vladimir Putin is confident. "Russian athletes will again show their unique sporting mastery at the Paralympics after a prolonged forced break. The way to the Games was long for our team and not just because of the postponement of the competitions by one year due to the pandemic," he said on Monday at a meeting with members of the national Paralympic team. "We all remember the unjust ban of the team from the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games and the bitterness that was caused by the absurd decision to suspend membership of the Russian Paralympic Committee in the international committee. It’s likely the clearest examples proving that politics directly interferes in sports." Putin noted that the athletes "brilliantly passed all the qualification tournaments and showed commendable sporting results, fully displaying your legendary will and colossal mental strength." The Russian Paralympic team is made up of 430 people, 241 of them are athletes (129 men and 112 women). They will compete in 19 sports out of 22 that are included in the program. The Tokyo Paralympics will be held between August 24 and September 5. In total, 539 medal sets are up for grabs.