Beijing Olympics silver medallist and former world champion in weightlifting (105 kg), Dmitry Klokov of Russia termed the current doping saga and the subsequent backlash to it as "100 per cent politics."
"If you look at America and Russia, these nations are competing. They are fighting politically," said Klokov here on Friday while inaugurating a two-day seminar on Olympic weightlifting and Russian training methods, organised by Namma CrossFit Gym.
“But normal people aren't fighting. When I am in America, I don’t listen to some rubbish about Russia. In Russia I don't listen to rubbish about America. Normal people are like soldiers. They just have to do things others say. It’s not their world. It’s somebody else's world.”
The 33-year-old, who was widely tipped to clinch gold at the 2012 London Games before an injury ruled him out, added that banning of athletes might diminish the efforts of those who won.
“It shouldn’t be like ‘we were second every time and now there is no Russia and we will be first’. It’s not good for the results. But many people like this situation. No one will cry 'yay! Russia is out' but inside they will be like 'Oh yes.'
Klokov however felt that the doping scandal has not diminished the appeal of the Russian weightlifting techniques.
“There are only two schools – the Bulgarian-Turkish and the Russian,” he said. “But more people train like us with accessory exercises. This is more important than classical technique of doing just full snatch and full clean and jerk. You need to train your muscles more. This is more comfortable and safer for the body.
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