Former Olympic bronze medallist and world champion Shane Perkins has hit back at critics who have questioned his defection to Russian citizenship from Australian.
Despite the doping scandals which have embroiled Russia over the past 12 months, which included banning competitors from Rio 2016, Perkins feels his decision is the correct one if he is to race at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.
Perkins, who has no family ties to Russia, has switched his allegiance after failing to make Australia's cycling team at last year's Olympics.
"If I was concerned about it I wouldn't be doing what I'm doing," Perkins told ESPN. "I think it's more of a case of the world needs a bad guy and unfortunately, they've picked Russia.
"I'm confident with the team I have around me and the ethics that they have and at the end of the day I'm 100 percent in control of where I'm heading and what I put into my body."
The 30-year-old, who is currently competing in St. Petersburg at Russia's national championships, said his decision was originally fuelled by fellow cyclist and long-time friend Denis Dmitriev who insisted he carried on his career, even if it was away from Australia.
"When I told him I was going to retire, he thought I was crazy," Perkins added. "So we kind of discussed it [joining the Russian team] last year around December and Denis was excited about it and that's how it all kind of started and here we are now."
Dmitriev wasn't the only Russian to have an influence over Perkins' decision either. President Vladimir Putin was required in putting pen to paper to sign off his Russian citizenship. However, Perkins is still yet to make the move to Russia his permanent lifestyle.
"I hope one day I get to meet him and thank him for allowing this to happen," Perkins said. "It was pretty cool to get the news through that Putin had signed off on it all and that it was all happening.
"It would be cool in the future for the family and myself to live in Russia for a while, be a bit of fun and something different for the family."
Perkins applied for citizenship in February after notifying Cycling Australia of his intentions to switch last year.