The Ukrainian long jumper and triple jumper Maryna Bech-Romanchuk cannot imagine competing against competitors from Russia as long as the war in her home country continues.
While the 28-year-old is currently at the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, the World Federation does not allow individual athletes from Russia and Belarus to start under neutral status.
“The situation of fencer Olga Charlan has shown that we don’t feel comfortable competing with Russian athletes,” said Bech-Romantschuk in an interview with the “Mediengruppe Münchner Merkur/TZ”. She was reminiscent of Charlan’s disqualification by the World Fencing Federation at the World Championships after the Ukrainian failed to shake hands with a Russian opponent. Charlan was then allowed to compete with the team again.
The World Athletics Federation opposes a corresponding recommendation by the International Olympic Committee. Before the World Cup, the association had supported a training camp for the Ukrainian team. President Sebastian Coe recently stated that if the situation does not change, he cannot imagine that Russian participants will start at the Olympic Games in Paris next year.
“You can’t give Russia a stage”
Russians can sleep and eat well without having to worry about their house being bombed, Bech-Romanchuk said. “Russian athletes should only compete in Russia. There can be no neutrality there,” stressed the wife of Ukrainian swimmer Mykhailo Romanchuk. “We still know that it’s a Russian athlete.”
Now is not the time to talk about the future of Russian athletes. “It’s very important for many countries to win medals and represent their own flag. You can’t give Russia this stage,” said Bech-Romanchuk.
For you personally, the World Cup in Budapest got off to an unfortunate start. In the long jump, the 2019 World Cup runner-up missed the final last Sunday after three failed attempts. The qualification in triple jump takes place this Wednesday, Bech-Romantschuk is European champion in this discipline.