We wrote about Russian athlete and The Witcher superfan Vitalina Batsarashkina back in 2016 when she won a silver medal in the 10m air pistol at the Rio Olympics. At this year’s games she’s back with the same Witcher gear, only this time she won gold.
Of course we didn’t write about Batsarashkina just because she’s a Witcher fan. Most athletes at these games will be a fan of some kind of video game, and loads are probably obsessed with everything from Pokémon to Skyrim to League of Legends.
What sets Batsarashkina apart is that she actually competes in her event wearing Witcher stuff. In 2016 it was a Witcher medallion hanging from her pants and some Witcher illustrations on her shooting glasses, and she’s worn what looks like the same charm in 2024, only this time the Witcher medallion was around her neck.
I joked last time that “If anyone on Earth is going to be more happy with silver than gold, it’s going to be a Witcher fan” but really, she’s an athlete, of course gold is better, so congrats!
G/O Media may get a commission
She beat Bulgaria’s Antoaneta Kostadinova, who won silver, and China’s Jiang Ranxin, who took home bronze. You can see video of the final on ABC’s website.
Batsarashkina’s gold was the first gold medal for the “ROC”—the Russian Olympic Committee—at the Tokyo games, which while consisting of a bunch of Russian athletes technically isn’t representing Russia because, as NBC summarises here, of some pretty widescale systematic doping at international sporting events:
Russia received a two-year ban from the World Anti-Doping Agency for its state-sponsored doping program. Between December 17, 2024, and December 17, 2024, no athlete can represent Russia at the Olympics, Paralympics or World Championships.
The ban was originally set to last four years, but the Court of Arbitration for Sport reduced it to two years. The state-sponsored doping program was revealed in 2016 and included at least 15 medal winners from the 2014 Olympics, held in Sochi, Russia.
Kotaku
Source link
Related Post:
- Witcher fan wins Olympic gold medal while wearing Geralt’s medallion
- Hades wins GDC Game of the Year, Umurangi Generation wins IGF Grand Prize
- Tokyo Olympics kicks off with music from Final Fantasy, Monster Hunter, and more
- More scrapped plans for the Tokyo Olympics unearthed featuring Nintendo
- BBC’s Tokyo Olympics promo and the reaction in Japan
- Tokyo Olympics Opening Ceremony Has Final Fantasy Music, JRPGs
- Tokyo 2024 Olympics Commentator tries his best to say ‘Gundam’
- Japan Celebrates The Music Of Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Ace Combat, NieR & More at the Tokyo Olympics’ Opening Ceremony
- Google’s Doodle celebrates the Tokyo Olympics with a sports RPG
- Tokyo Olympics Google Doodle 16-Bit Champions Island Games