LONDON (AP) – Thirty years later, Sergei Bubka still feels the pain of missing out on a chance of a gold medal at the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics because of the Soviet boycott.
“It’s even more painful now,” the Ukrainian pole vault great said Thursday in an interview with The Associated Press. “I paid the price. I had an excellent chance to become Olympic champion in 1984. This dream was stolen.”
Now, as vice president of the IAAF, Bubka opposes a blanket ban on Russia’s track and field team and wants “innocent” athletes protected so they can compete in next year’s Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
“They should not suffer,” he said. “It is our duty to protect the clean athletes.”
Bubka will be an influential voice when the IAAF’s 27-member governing council holds a teleconference Friday to consider sanctions against Russia’s track federation, including a possible suspension that could exclude the country’s track and field athletes from the Rio Games.