– We are left with empty stands. I do not like it. I hope the athletics association will work harder to attract supporters, media and advertising, says Marija Lasitskene to Ria Novosti after making her season debut in the Russian team championship in Sochi. Marija Lasitskene has been the supreme queen of heights for the past five years. She has picked up all of the World Cup, European Championship and Olympic gold during the period, but due to the war in Ukraine she can not compete internationally against the world elite. OLYMPIC WINNER: Marija Lasitskene took the gold in Tokyo last summer. Photo: Martin Meissner / AP She is strongly critical of the voting series that will replace the prestigious, international voting: – Some call it an answer to the Diamond League, but in reality it is just a memorial, the same empty stadiums, says Lasitskene, who came with an encouragement: – We should not jump in a funeral, but on a holiday. The husband with a very harsh verdict It was in mid-April that it was decided that Russia would have its own “Diamond League” with 16 different competitions and finals. – They will be held from May to August in eight regions of the country and there will be around 1000 athletes participating. The format will not just be limited to athletics, said Russia’s sports minister, Oleg Matytsin. MINISTER OF SPORTS: Oleg Matytsin. Photo: MAXIM SHEMETOV / Reuters Lasitskene’s husband – sports commentator Vladas Lasitskas – is clear on what he thinks about the concept after the first vote. On Twitter, he makes the following verdict: Atmosphere: 0 out of 10 Prize money: 1 out of 10 Level of competitors: 1 out of 10 Lasitskas compares the scheme with a Soviet collective use, and turns to the Russian Athletics Federation and the Ministry of Sports: “Who does this dive for?”. Written letter to Putin On June 23, 2020, the Lasitians, together with Sergei Shubenkov and Anzjelika Sidorova, wrote an open letter to President Vladimir Putin, in which she aired her frustration with the Russian Athletics Federation and the inability to pursue interests in athletics. – We are on the brink of the final collapse and destruction of athletics, said the three prominent athletes. POLE SUCCESS: Anzjelika Sidorova is world champion and European pole vault champion. She won Olympic silver last year and won the Diamond League vote in Zurich. Photo: FABRICE COFFRINI / AFP At that time, the Lasitskene had not been allowed to participate in the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in 2016 as a result of the doping scandal in Sochi. In 2019, Putin instructed the Athletics Federation to re-establish membership in World Athletics by December 2 of the same year, but they failed. Vladas Lasitskas has repeatedly expressed frustration over how the Russian Athletics Federation and the Ministry of Sports manage the sport in recent months. When Minister of Sports Matytsin sent out a press release stating that he would meet the athletes at the end of March, the Lasitskene did not want to run. She has been quiet on social media since Russia started the war in Ukraine.
ttn-69
Russian “Diamond League” is ridiculed – compared to a funeral – news Sport – Sports news, results and broadcast schedule
