Slovenia's Decorated Olympian Pulls Out Of Paris Over Partner's Snub |First Sports With Rupha Ramani

Slovenia's Decorated Olympian Pulls Out Of Paris Over Partner's Snub | First Sports With Rupha Ramani
Tokyo Olympics bronze medalist and Slovenia's biggest medal hope cyclist Tadej Pogacar, has pulled out of the Paris Olympics. This after Pogacar's partner & cyclist Urska Zigart who is herself a two-time national champion was snubbed and kept out of Slovenia's Olympics contingent. Did Pogacar choose his personal relationship over national duty or is there a deeper reason behind Pogacar's sudden dramatic decision. Rupha Ramani brings you the chaos surrounding this unique love story.
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Slovenia | Tadej Pogacar | Urska Zigart | Paris Olympics | First Sports | Rupha Ramani | Firstpost | Sports News
#slovenia #tadejpogacar #parisolympics2024 #firstsports #rupharamani #sportsnews #firstpost
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[@silvialevarn1585]

Pogačar is currently the best male cyclist in the world, and perhaps of all time. The Slovenian team needed him more than he needed the Olympics. Plus, he is dealing with fatigue after the Giro-Tour double, but honestly, I think he could have gone if Urska wanted to compete and been selected (plus, the course doesn't suit him, so he wouldn't be guaranteed gold)

[@boscoboys]

Tadej is a legend already. Urska is clearly a medal winner herself. Pogi will win the UCI world championship. Fingers crossed.

[@BorisPerc]

If we look here only 2,119,675 population and real number is less than 2 milion all other immigrants, very small population they should think before but we have shallow leader here.

[@WilliamJeffs-vu7nr]

Urska only beat the ridiculous TT selection by over 10 minutes, maybe she needed 12 minutes!!

[@carlo9524]

I still don't get why the girl did not make the cut? Why?

[@DaemonGeek]

If Pogi pulls out of the Paris Olympics, I hope he strongly considers the Giro-TdF-Vuelta triple crown. I know he is competitive enough to consider it, as it has never been done before, and would cement his status indelibly on sport (not that he hasn't already done so).

[@metarun2006]

The guy just won Tour de France 2024 and won Giro de Italia 2024 earlier in the year yet no coverage. And this miniscule issue became a news🤦‍♂

[@Cbcw76]

Barely coverage for American cycling PERIOD much less Tadej and Slovienia.

[@asmas61]

This is what happens when a coach puts his girlfriend on the team.

[@HRHDMKYT]

Wow, what a noble gesture. Sounds like Tadejz Pogačar protested a wrong decision by the Slovenian Olympic Committee or whoever makes these seemingly arbitrary decisions. If Slovenia wouldn’t even have the two spots in these 2024 Olympic Games without Urska Zigart’s previous two wins, the decision-makers absolutely made the wrong call here. Serves them right they now have to compete without Pogačar, who surely would have had a podium finish.

[@OM-sb2bd]

Did you think maybe, just maybe, you should tell us WHY Zigart was not selected?? … aside from the coach saying he made the decision last year??

[@jetthamilton8131]

Why aren’t they talking about Jan Tratnik my boy is going to have a shot at a medal in the road race

[@joehiatt1992]

But she did get shut out,looks like the coach got bribed somehow or whatever,seems shady that the best female gets walked over,sure pogi knows but isnt saying

[@michaelsaayman2802]

Good on him.

[@dorydiavelone3531]

I’m with Pogajar he is the MAN!!!

[@marcdaniels9079]

So much nonsense here. Don’t you realise he doesn’t do the Olympics because sure they have anti-doping that is at least moderately effective unlike the UCI which is a joke. 🤦‍♂️

[@bengt_axle]

Who is doping in the TdF? It is not the days of Lance Armstrong. All athletes in these endurance sports have biological passports with baseline levels of key steroid and other hormones. Lance had a whole TEAM of people helping him and participating in doping. Today this is virtually impossible. Even trace elements of banned substances transmitted from one athlete's body fluids to another, can (and have) been detected.

[@nil-uf5vm]

Stupid

[@grumbleguff7376]

👆 this

[@barbrabojanc3794]

Actually, it's true. For weeks now, there's been article after article in Slovenia, interviews about how and why this happened to Urska, a big scandal, and it's obvious to everyone here he pulled out of the Olympics mainly because of his fiance. Ever since the rejection of Urska hit the media, there was serious speculation in Slovenia that Tadej might now pull out of the Olympics, and that's exactly what happened.

[@veganpotterthevegan]

Thing is, he's claiming it's for fatigue. Even if it was actually for fatigue, it's not making a statement to their national body if he doesn't tell them he dropped out because they specifically left her out.

[@barbrabojanc3794]

I know why this is not making any sense to you. We know only what gets into media and not everything that happens in our country is outsourced to foreign media. This news outlet is maybe overly romanticizing it, but there is a (recorded) grain of thruth to it. You just have to find it and translate it.

[@veganpotterthevegan]

@barbrabojanc3794 I've seen it. Pogi just tickles the concept. He really should have claimed it was the main reason. Now there's a very good chance Urska will never get to the Olympics. She's had a great season and didn't get in. There's no guarantee she'll have a season this good in 4yrs.

[@jono1457-qd9ft]

​@@veganpotterthevegan He probably has to claim fatigue to avoid some kind of punishment. So he has to follow legal advice.🤔

[@veganpotterthevegan]

@@jono1457-qd9ft they're not punishing the best cyclist on the planet for that.

[@whirlywhirly5758]

Which part of „it’s not the main reason“ didn‘t you understand?

[@ladosvec5478]

💉mybe

[@domestique3954]

IT IS the main reason!

[@dfusselman]

Tadej owes the Olympic team nothing if the committee does this to his girlfriend. I imagine a lot of people in Slovenia are are proud of him for standing up for merit and fairness- especially in defense of girlfriend. If his own country disrespects his mate , maybe he and Urska can move to Switzerland. They have big mountains there...

[@kdb991]

I think he lives in monaco anyway

[@user-ch9if6px6r]

They live in Monaco.

[@bengt_axle]

It is not as though it appears in the headlines. Pogi won both the Giro and the Tour. This is an incredible feat, but also a huge drain on the body. He will not be recovered enough to try and win a medal at Paris, where the course or event may not be the one which favours his strengths the most. Same goes for Urska. The "best" cyclists are not always selected for the Olympics because only one or two may be selected for a small country and there may be another cyclist who is better prepared at the moment, and for a given course. Mara Abbott was famously selected in the Rio Olympics even though she is not that strong on the flats. She is a lightweight cyclist and an excellent climber, which gave her a good advantage on a hilly course. She almost won gold. Sagan went to the last Olympics and got nothing (I think he was even DNF). Many considerations go into selections for the Olympic team; not solely past performance.

[@denisesayer9225]

The Paris course does not suit Pogi, and likely he wouldn't have won anyway. In the world of cycling TDF/Giro double and upcoming World's are way more weighty and significant. His goals this year never included an Olympic medal. They are in order - Giro (Check), TDF (Check), and World's.

[@Cbcw76]

Tadej gives up his spot to so many other top cyclists.

[@carmenlux1775]

Loyalty. For better or worse. 👩‍❤‍💋‍👨

[@lisao9486]

Reality is he just became the first cyclist to win the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France in the same year since 1998. He is genuinely tired at this point and wants to recover and prepare for the World Championships in September. He has an Olympic medal already he wants the rainbow jersey.

[@tomblackwell4924]

The best female cyclist in the country was shut out, for no good reason. I agree with Pogi. It wasn't just about his girlfriend, it was a very unwise decision.

[@francisdelacruz6439]

The argument goes around to doesn’t the Slovenian Committee also has the greater responsibility of selecting the teams based on merit not politics? Are these athletes even paid proportional to their services? And yet the committee who cannot win medals falters.

[@MyWissam]

Well done.

[@sanjivrockin]

Such a lame coverage. The part about fatigue as a reason not holding water shows the lack of understanding of the sport and the sequence of the tournaments .

[@jimmyjam-kp4fs]

Pretty sure he pulled out because he just won Tour De France

[@kylebreier2812]

No way. The dude has an endless hunger to win. Did you watch the tour? He was ravenous!

[@nimideniro8404]

Romeo and Juliet are "partners"

[@jimhays2772]

Seems Slovenia has there priority's mixed up.

[@teodelfuego]

God, this love over medal narrative is so tiresome.

[@pellevanlig245]

had to put in pink love "news" for the girls. Keep sports out if it.

[@nem3th]

Olympic race course better suits one day classics riders, and Netherlands, Belgium , Denmark will be there in full with best squads for medals. TP are best road cyclist at the moment in world and he deserving t proper rest for grand win in le Tour, wich is not easy as many may think, because it was looking that way how he won, but its not.

[@barry5138]

Aren't the drug testing protocols very strict at the olympics?

[@QuackLoud]

Wait, so is the Olympics supposed to be about Nationalism or not? We're not supposed to boo Russian athletes just because they work for a despot, but we are supposed to ride for a country when they insult your partner? Make up your minds people so I know when to cheer and when to boo!

[@markdonovan1540]

Of course, this couldn't possibly have anything to do with the Olympic Committee's far more rigorous anti-doping proedures than the woeful UCI.

[@fangru7294]

No. Because he would not be only one. Or do you think Remco who will be there is clean and Tadej with Jonas are not? Remco shatteres Lance and Pantani records to btw.

[@LeeLee-fi7mx]

​@fangru7294 The thing is, neither Remco or Jonas made the staggering and sudden gains that Pog made within the period of less than one year year. Pretty much no other rider that was already considered at the top of their game has made anywhere close to Pog's gains. In the last 4 years it looked like Pog had peaked with very little performance improvement year by year since he won his first tdf. He went from losing time trials to Wout Van and Jonas and coming in 9th place at the uci World TT championships just a few months ago to now being able to smoke World Champion Remco in a time trial. And his watts/kg were always significantly behind Jonas and now all of a sudden he is setting the record for watts/kg on a near one hour climb at 7watts a kilo. How was he able to make those kind of gains and leapfrog his opponents within the space of only month's when over the past 4 years it looked like his performance had peaked? He is on some kind of performance enhancer that others have not quite caught on to yet.

[@sebastianschmid8261]

Rigorous 😂 If they were Chinese athletes wouldn‘t start in most sports. Cyclists are blood-tested practically daily during the Tour. So if these tests do not show anything the other test would not.

[@markdonovan1540]

@@sebastianschmid8261 Point taken, although I was refering to the cycling event.

[@swisstopia]

Jeez! Easy on the dahl!

[@RustinKohli401]

Oh God. This is such false news. Pogacar just won the Tour de France and Giro Italia. He is just burnt out to participate in the Olympics. This not Ekta Kapoor seriel. Grow up

[@markdonovan1540]

He didn't particularly look tired on smashing the TdF with 6 stage wins, beating several records along the way. The Olympics isn't the TdF, it should be a ride in the park for him, so there must be some "other reason" behind it...

[@edmundcharles1685]

Doped records, to be accurate​@@markdonovan1540

[@fangru7294]

​@@markdonovan1540Thats stupid. Even if he do not look tired his legs got almost 7000km in not even three months. His real goal is WC. Its better to rest at least a month, do some prep with classics and then win WC than let himself burn out.

[@yasirshafi3496]

Exactly. I was going to write the same. He saved himself from being burning out. He might not even participate in Vuelta Espania

[@401farmer]

Who cares its only the oyl7mpics big deal😂😂

[@pw4444]

He pulled the Olympics as he doesn't want to risk a positive dope test.

[@chinenyennake4782]

😂😂😂😂 Cry

[@leejoo-myung3498]

INDIAN MEDIA WHAT DO WE EXPECT? HAHAHA SO MISINFORMATIVE... INDIIAAANS

[@PROUDINDIAN-ym5xo]

Piss off 🤬

[@Daiski87]

The true reason is the anti doping tests in the olympics

[@imranwahid11]

🤡🤡

[@PerryScanlon]

The obvious explanation is that he's doping or using a motor and doesn't want to get caught at the Olympics. He blew away climbing times from famous doped cyclists, then he insulted the skeptics.

[@angelocastro1651]

Yeah right😂

[@PerryScanlon]

@@angelocastro1651 you look like a fake shill account.

[@Mybrother53]

Then they are all doped like during the Lance years

[@barry5138]

​@@angelocastro1651 a 2007 Lance fanboy turned Lance hater.......?

[@chinenyennake4782]

So that means Vingegaard and Remco also dope because, they competed to thr very end. Records are meant to be broken

[@deanpesci8484]

Poggy can do whatever the hell he wants.....he has earned it......