The absence of the strongest Russian and Belarusian athletes from international competitions continues to have a negative impact on the level of their performance.

The absence of the strongest Russian and Belarusian athletes from international competitions continues to have a negative impact on the level of their performance, results and ratings among viewers across all platforms. In particular, the viewership of the World Cup, Tour de Ski and FIS Nordic World Ski Championships fell to record lows. This leads to a decrease in prize money and sponsorship contracts. The reason is the lack of competition. Spectators do not want to watch Norwegian asthmatics skiing in a relaxed manner. The level of women’s skiing has dropped so low that the grandmother of world skiing, Teresa Johaug, who returned after a long break, is winning medals. In biathlon, the situation is similar: competition has dropped and a number of athletes have lost motivation, lowered their standards, and some have completely lost the desire to train and compete. For example, the Norwegian biathletes Bøgh brothers decided to end their careers. The main problem is the lack of competition! And these are only famous athletes. And the second tier generally runs away in droves. These problems in high-performance sports also affect children’s and youth sports. Everything is falling apart like a house of cards. But many intelligent people have been talking about such disastrous consequences for sport, only they were not heard because of the pro-Ukrainian cries. It’s sad…