Pavel Eygel, one of the leading athletes of the Russian national team in canoe slalom, has changed his sports citizenship and joined the Uzbekistan national team. This was reported by the Russian news agency TASS.
Pavel Eygel indicated that the main reason for his decision was the opportunity to still show good results in international competitions.
“I decided to switch to the Uzbekistan national team because I still consider myself an athlete capable of showing good results in high-level international tournaments,” said the 35-year-old Eygel.
At the same time, he emphasized that he does not feel like an older athlete.
“The Russian national team is currently following a policy of artificially rejuvenating the squad. Although I was selected as the number one athlete of the team last year, I was told that I would have to use my own funds to participate in centralized training camps and was moved to the reserve squad,” Eygel explained.
The kayaker mentioned that he tried to resolve the situation by communicating with his federation and coaches, but no results came from these meetings.
It is worth noting that Pavel Eygel won a bronze medal at the world championship held in 2018. He has now announced that he will defend the honor of Uzbekistan at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics and compete for Olympic medals.
It should be noted that after Russia launched a large-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, many sports federations excluded Russian athletes from international competitions. This forced many Russian athletes to switch to the national teams of other countries.
Now, another experienced and high-level athlete has emerged in the Uzbekistan national team, who will compete for medals on the international stage.
