sportbible logo

To make sure you never miss out on your favourite NEW stories, we're happy to send you some reminders

Click 'OK' then 'Allow' to enable notifications

Russians Take Aim At 'Biased' Judging During Women's Rhythmic Gymnastics Final

Russians Take Aim At 'Biased' Judging During Women's Rhythmic Gymnastics Final

Dina Averina was in tears in Tokyo after she was seemingly robbed of a gold medal and the Russians aren't happy about it.

Max Sherry

Max Sherry

The Russians aren't happy.

Officials from the banned Olympic juggernauts are blowing up about the level of judging during the women's rhythmic gymnastics final which saw Israel's Linoy Ashram clinch gold over three-time world champion Dina Averina.

In fact, Russia aren't just unhappy with the judging, they've actually gone one step further and labelled it as "biased" and "a disgrace".

It's understood Stanislav Pozdnyakov, who is the head of the Russian Olympic Committee, now plans on lodging an official complaint with the International Gymnastics Federation over the officiating of the competition.

"We have decided that we will not close our eyes to this situation," Pozdnyakov said in a statement.

"We are already preparing an official appeal to the international federation."

Russia's Dina Averina.
PA

It was a historic moment for Ashram who is now the first Israeli woman to ever win an Olympic gold medal.

As for Russia, it's the first time one of its athletes has not won gold in the event since way back in 1996.

"I don't feel that it was fair today and it was obvious from the very first apparatus when... I got a lower score, so I can't say that it was very fair," Averina said after the event.

"I can't spot any obvious mistake that I did. I was pretty consistent and clean compared to Linoy who lost the apparatus."

Fans on social media echoed her comments.

The silver medallist, who was the favourite heading into the final, wasn't the only Russian to weigh in on the situation.

"Dina didn't lose, she won. But unfortunately the judging was egregiously unjust," Russian Rhythmic Gymnastics Federation president Irina Viner told the RT channel.

"It was simply a disgrace to rhythmic gymnastics.

"Enough, they got tired of Russia. And the judges decided to support this Israeli woman."

On top of that, legendary ballerina Svetlana Zakharova said the result was "unbelievably biased and unfair".

Israel's Linoy Ashram.
PA

Rhythmic gymnasts are judged on two things: the difficulty of their routines and how well they perform them.

And, in the eyes of the Olympic judges, Ashram did enough to edge out her rivals to win gold for her country.

"This is history. I'm proud of represent Israel here, on the biggest stage in the world," Ashram said.

"It's like a dream, I think it's like I'm not here."

Featured Image Credit: PA/Ch7

Topics: Gymnastics, olympics, Tokyo Olympics, Australia, Russia