Fencer Sergei Bida intends to play for the U.S. national team at the Olympics in Paris

 The U.S. Olympic Committee sent a letter to Congress to speed up the process of obtaining citizenship by an athlete.

Silver medalist of the Tokyo Olympics as part of the Russian national team, swordsman Sergei Bida intends to obtain U.S. citizenship and play for the national team at the Games in Paris. This was reported by the USA Today newspaper.

The athlete's wife Violetta Bida, who is the silver medalist of the World and European Fencing Championships, answered the question about her readiness to represent the U.S. national team: "We are ready."

The publication reports that the U.S. Olympic Committee and the country's Fencing Federation have sent letters to Congress to speed up the process of obtaining citizenship by the Bid spouses. Athletes' lawyer Jack Weiner said in a comment to USA Today that the U.S. Olympic Committee does not need approval for the transition from the Russian Olympic Committee, as the athletes have not represented the Russian team for three years. According to the International Fencing Federation (FIE), Bida last played for the Russian national team at the World Cup in Sochi in February 2022, taking 10th place.

On December 27, 2023, a criminal case was opened against Bid's spouses, as they left the service in Rosgvardia. Athletes, being servicemen, played for Dynamo. They left Russia in June 2023. Sergei Bide is 30 years old, he is the silver medalist of the Tokyo Olympics in team sword fencing competitions, he also has silver and bronze at the World Championships. Violetta Bide is 29 years old, she is the silver medalist of the World and European Championships (2019) in the team epewer tournament.

On March 28, the Executive Committee of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) recommended that Russian and Belarusian athletes be allowed to participate in international competitions only as neutral athletes, and only those who did not publicly support the special military operation in Ukraine and are not associated with the armed forces or national security agencies. The International Fencing Federation followed the recommendations, so Russian fencers representing CSKA and Dynamo did not receive neutral status. Later, the IOC allowed the Russians to the Olympics in Paris in neutral status, but only in personal disciplines.

The Olympic Games in Paris will be held from July 26 to August 11, 2024.