MOSCOW, Aug 5, Andrey Simonenko. Russian Olympic champion in high jump Maria Lasitskene said that she had not considered and is not considering the option of changing sports citizenship. Russian athletes are currently suspended from performing at major international tournaments. Earlier, since 2015, due to sanctions imposed on the All-Russian Athletics Federation (VFLA), Russians could compete abroad only in a neutral status and after receiving permission from the international federation. «No,» Lasitskene said in an interview, answering the question whether she considered — And now there is no point in this. If there was such a point, then at the moment when our officials decided whether to pay a fine to the World Athletics Association (World Athletics) for our federation or not I talked on the phone with the presidential administration and explained to them why it was necessary to pay. Why it was I who did this is a separate question, but then there was a feeling of hopelessness. The feeling that we would be deprived of the second Olympics in a row. But even then it was unrealistic to change citizenship: I I would have missed three years due to «quarantine» and would not have achieved anything. «But the first reason why I do not want to change sports citizenship is was, is and will be that I am Russian. I have a homeland, I was born here and I want to play for Russia,» the Olympic champion emphasized. Read the full interview with Maria Lasitskene on the website rsport.ria.ru.
