Beijing: Georgia ousted Russia from the Olympic women's beach volleyball competition on Wednesday in a symbolic clash that began in good sprits but saw tensions rise over the war back home.
Russia's Natalia Uryadova refused to acknowledge having lost to Georgia in a testy post-match press conference, questioning the citizenship claims of her Brazilian-born opponents.
"We were not actually playing against the Georgian team. We were playing against our Brazilian friends here," Uryadova said.
Her comments came after she and teammate Alexandra Shiryaeva lost, 2 sets to 1, to Georgia's Andrezza Chagas and Cristine Santanna, both of whom are from Brazil but compete for Georgia.
Asked whether the war back home had affected the two teams' performance, Uryadova, still coated in a thin layer of sand, said: "If they were Georgian they certainly would be influenced but they are not (Georgian)."
The match was played against the politically charged backdrop of the bloody military conflict between the two neighbours.
A tense ceasefire was in affect after Russian forces poured into Georgia last week following a Georgian bid to retake control of South Ossetia, a Moscow-backed region which broke from Georgia in the early 1990s.
Shiryaeva also had choice words, blaming Georgian "stupidity" for starting the war.
"It was very stupid for Georgia to start a war with Russia because Russia is very big and Georgia very small," she said, adding, "I don't like war."
It was the second time the two nations had met at the Beijing Games since the fighting broke out.
Russia's Natalia Paderina earlier won silver in the women's 10m Air Pistol ahead of bronze medallist Nino Salukvadze of Georgia, but the two close friends later embracedly warmly on the podium.
The beach volleyball encounter also began on a friendly tone after the Georgian pair crossed under the net to embrace their opponents.
After the match, the Georgians assumed a cooler tone as Santanna took exception to Uryadova's remarks.
"I feel like a Georgian. I have a Georgian passport and a Brazilian passport. We have fought for the past two years to be here as one of the 24 teams," Santanna said.
"I don't want this to be a war between us. I appreciate them and respect them as players."
The Georgians and Russians were both 0-2 coming in to Wednesay's preliminary-round clash and seeded just 22nd and 15th, respectively, but the contest took on a symbolic significance due to the bloody conflict.
Santanna, a statuesque, sun-bleached blonde standing a bronzed 181cm (5 feet, 11 inches) admitted not knowing Georgia's national anthem and said she and Chagas had only been to the country twice.
But Santanna, 29, added that she had been ready to pull out of the Games due to the war, in solidarity with the rest of the team, until Georgian Olympic officials decided to stay in Beijing.
Santanna and Chagas, 30, are competing under the Georgian names of Rtvelo and Saka, respectively, which, when combined, form the Georgian-language name for that country.
Santanna and Chagas were handed passports with the backing of Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, whose wife is a former volleyball player.
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