Russian MP makes excuses for racist photo montage of the Obamas

Irina Rodnina, once a famous figure skater, is now an MP for a pro-Putin party in Russia. Recently she was given the honor of lighting the Olympic flame in Sochi together with former hockey player Vladislav Tretiak.

Rodnina is now attempting to vindicate herself with respect to a tweet sent out from her account last September. The message featured a photo montage of US President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama that seemed to show them looking hungrily at a banana.

The three-time Olympic champion now blames the tweet on an alleged attack by hackers. "I think a great deal of the Obamas, so I must apologize for not clarifying earlier that I do not support this photo or racism in any form," online newspaper gazeta.ru reports Rodnina as writing.

"My account was attacked by hackers," gazeta.ru quotes Rodnina as writing. "I should have displayed more discretion in my initial response to the image." 

The US President did not attend the opening ceremony in Sochi and, like many other heads of state, will not travel to Russia for the Olympics. In response to American criticism of the racist image last fall, Rodnina tweeted this message:  "Freedom of speech is freedom of speech! Go take care of your own problems!"

Dmitry Chernyshenko, head of the Olympic Organizing Committee in Sochi, refused to debate the topic at a press conference there. "[Rodninova] is a three-time Olympic champion, one of the most-recognized female Olympic athletes. I want to stress that the Olympics is not about politics," he said.

Rodnina herself is, however, an active politician today. The collage of the Obamas and the banana sparked a scandal at the time, with many Russians charging the governing-party MP with racism. 

The US Embassy in Moscow also responded by quoting Thomas Jefferson, who said that "intolerance is a disease born of ignorance". The MP removed the image and then tweeted her response about freedom of speech. 

Newsru.com reports that critics are attributing Rodnina’s current attempt to vindicate herself to her concern that Washington might cancel her travel visa to the USA. She made a living for many years there as a trainer and her daughter lives there now.