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Ukraine

Ukraine Joins Row Over Russian Athlete Biographies

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kostyantyn HryshchenkoUkrainian Foreign Minister Kostyantyn Hryshchenko
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Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kostyantyn Hryshchenko
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Kostyantyn Hryshchenko
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By RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service
KYIV -- Ukraine has joined Georgia in requesting corrections from London Olympic organizers to some athlete biographies that erroneously list their birthplaces as Russia.

Foreign Minister Kostyantyn Hryshchenko said he had asked the Ukrainian ambassador to Britain to request changes.

The problem applies to at least 10 athletes on the Russian Olympic team who were born in different parts of the former Soviet Union.

Their biographies on the official London2012.com website place Armenia; Baku; what the website calls the "Kazakhstan Region"; Dushanbe; Ukraine; as well as South Ossetia and a city in Abkhazia -- both breakaway regions of Georgia -- as being in Russia.

A spokesman for the London Games said organizers are "aware of this issue" and are awaiting a response from the relevant national Olympic committees that provided the information.

With reporting by Interfax
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by: Mark from: Ukraine
July 27, 2012 06:59
The problem applies to at least 30 Russian athletes born in other former Soviet republics. There could be more because many athletes don't have a birthplace listed on their bio profiles.

by: Jack from: US
July 27, 2012 13:03
with all respect, isn't the Ukraine a historical Russian province which Russians took away from Turks and Poles? It is temporarily counted as independence state, but we all know..
In Response

by: Frank
July 29, 2012 06:36
Jack,

It's more like Russia liberated much of the territory of what's now modern day Ukraine from the Turks and Poles.

Modern day Rusia, Ukraine and Belarus are descended from Rus. Poland and Turkey don't see themselves as part of that legacy.

Following the Mongol occupation, the northern area of Rus became the strongest and most independent of Rus territories.

As for this present situation, note the number of athletes seeking to represent Russia.

by: George from: US
July 28, 2012 20:06
Jack, you're an idiot . . .

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