Minister of Sports Oleg Matytsin, at the request of journalists, commented on the statement of two-time Olympic champion Yelena Isinbayeva — she called herself a «person of the world», and the awarded rank of army major was «nominal». Mytytsin's words are quoted by TASS.
“There is an absolutely unambiguous assessment here — it is unacceptable to treat military rank, civic position and events that take place in your native country this way,” the minister said. “Every person who loves his country is unambiguously negative about such statements.”
On July 17, Isinbayeva said that she would return to work in the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in September. The organization checked her on two points: whether Isinbayeva supported the war and whether she had any contracts with military structures. IOC did not find any violations. The athlete added that the rank of major, which she was awarded in 2018, is “nominal”, since she “does not and never served in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation.”
In addition, Isinbayeva stressed that she is a «man of the world»: «I live where I work, eat what I love, communicate with those whom I value and respect.» Probably, in this way the athlete responded to the publication of El Digital Sur that she now lives on the Spanish island of Tenerife. This information was later confirmed by associates of Alexei Navalny from the Anti-Corruption Foundation.
Yelena Isinbayeva is a two-time Olympic pole vault champion. She was twice a confidant of Vladimir Putin in the presidential elections, and was also a member of the working group on rewriting the Russian Constitution.