The famous Russian champion changed the attitude of the huge the number of people in the country. Her return to her homeland now looks unthinkable, and the process of canceling Yelena Isinbayeva has already begun.
What Isinbayeva did About the two-time Olympic champion in recent years, nothing has been heard at all. She did not appear at public events, did not give interviews, did not publish anything on social networks. The silence was broken by the Spanish edition of El Digital Sur, which found Isinbayeva in the Canary Islands in Tenerife. The journalists said that the athlete has been there with her family since 2021, owns luxury real estate and even has a residence permit.
For obvious reasons, such news intrigued the Russians, who, of course, were interested in what one of the best athletes in the history of the country is doing now. There were different opinions, but nothing critical happened at that time. And then Isinbayeva herself suddenly decided to speak out, and she made a post not in Russian, but in Spanish. There was the now famous phrase about the «nominal rank of major», that she had never had any connection with the Russian army and that she was a «man of the world» in general.
The reaction to such words was expected. In Russia, Elena was severely criticized. In Dagestan, they intended to rename the stadium named after her, even in their native Volgograd they sued the athlete because of an unpaid parking space, although this case was quickly closed. The head of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC), Stanislav Pozdnyakov, admitted that Elena «distanced herself from the ROC for two years.»
There are already consequences, and it will be even worse. But the IOC supported Isinbayeva and offered a cozy place in the organization. Which wasn't surprising either. Probably, the message of the Russian woman was also aimed at Thomas Bach. Even then it was clear that Elena would not be too happy in Russia. At least for the foreseeable future. Moreover, no other comments were received from her, which means that she still considers herself a «nominal major.» Sergey Shubenkov, world champion in the 110-meter hurdles, spoke about this in an interview.
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”I was not surprised at all (by Isinbaeva's statement). I will say this: Lena is an absolutely sincere person, but she needs to be more careful and think better before she says something. I am a supporter of the version that she made her statement in order to continue working at the IOC and benefit herself,” Shubenkov said.
In Dagestan, they decided to move from criticism in words to real actions. It became known yesterday that the athletics stadium in the center of Makhachkala, which had been named after Isinbayeva for six years, was officially renamed. The former name «Trud» was returned to the object.
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» The Government of the Republic of Dagestan (RD) decides: to rename the state budgetary institution «Stadium named after Olympic champion Elena Isinbayeva»; to the state budgetary institution RD «Stadium» Trud «, — the document of the government of the Republic says.
It is very likely that this is only the beginning of the very «cancellation of Isinbayeva.» You can argue for a long time whether this is good or bad. There are alternative opinions on this subject, including among other Russian champions and famous people. But at the same time, it is difficult to argue that with her contradictory statements, Elena launched a process that will be very difficult to turn back.
The opinion of the author may not coincide with the position of the editors.