The official release of the International Olympic Committee on the admission of Russians and Belarusians to the Games in Paris, unfortunately, did not cheer up everyone. Almost immediately after the publication of the news on the official website of the IOC, the head of World Athletics, Sebastian Coe, spoke to journalists, who turned out to be quite harsh in relation to domestic athletes.
"Maybe you'll see some neutral athletes from these countries at the Paris Olympics, but not in athletics. The position in our sport has not changed, it is stable, it has been adopted by the executive committee, and the council adheres to it. She is almost unanimously supported by an athletic family," RIA Novosti quoted Coe as saying.
Of course, such a decision by World Athletics was expected. However, it was this that prompted the medalist of the Tokyo Olympics in pole vault Anzhelika Sidorova to announce the end of her sports career. The 32-year-old athlete missed the entire last season due to pregnancy. She became a mother in September.
"I think many of you already understood where this was going and it seems that the time has come to put an end to it. For the whole year, from the moment I found out that I was pregnant, I tried to persuade myself not to hurry, to give myself a chance to change my mind, but it didn't work out. Unfortunately, in the last few years, I have completely stopped enjoying athletics. So, yes, I'm officially ending my sports career. I'm not going back to the sector. Yes, it didn't happen exactly the way I wanted. Do I regret anything? Absolutely. For example, that my last tournament was in Chelyabinsk (Chelyabinsk is beautiful, nothing personal), and not in Oregon, as it was in my fantasies," Sidorova wrote on social networks.
At the same time, she stressed that until the last moment she retained grains of understanding and respect for the international federation and its leadership, even after many years of suspensions.
"But, you know, there was so much more good! In spite of all this, I am leaving really proud of my path and the results we have achieved over the years. A huge number of medals from different tournaments. A huge amount of emotions, travel and really cool people on my way. I hope everyone understands that all this happened solely thanks to my coach. Svetlana Aleksandrovna is the person who made me an athlete from the very beginning to the very end... I'm leaving with a smile, believe me. I hope everyone will remember me not only with tears in their eyes. Am I scared? Of course. But there's a whole new life ahead of us. I'm open to suggestions as soon as the little man starts letting me out of the house. See you," Sidorova wrote.
According to the athlete's coach Svetlana Abramova, it simply did not make sense to jump further.
"Of course, I know about it, the decision was joint. That's life. If there had been no suspension, a lot of things could have turned out differently," Abramova told Match TV.
At the same time, according to former track and field athlete Yolanda Chen, a whole generation of athletes who have not been able to fully compete at the international level will soon follow in Sidorova's footsteps.
"Everything is quite natural and logical. Angelica first took a break due to pregnancy and then waited for the opportunity to compete in international competitions, but apparently there will be no relaxations for the Russians. Our athletes will not see performances at the World and European Championships, the Olympics, therefore, I think, all athletes of this generation are gradually starting to look for new ways of realizing themselves, turning the page. This is absolutely normal, especially since Angelica has become a mother. Naturally, she wants to take up motherhood. It's quite reasonable, if I were her, everyone would do it," Chen said in an interview with RT.
For Russian sports, Angelica's departure is certainly a huge loss. After all, it was she who, after Yelena Isinbayeva, became the world leader in the pole vault sector. She could not set new records. However, she also conquered the bar at a height of five meters, although she herself did not believe in her own strength. The personal best of the Russian is 5.01 m.
"It is not easy to replace such an athlete. It's not even that the audience expects any particular interaction or rituals. It's just that you're constantly being compared. If not a record result, then at least the same, and when you jump lower, it doesn't seem to be very worthy. But I never had any special rituals, or should I say habits. When you get used to certain actions that you repeat over the years, it seems to me that you can become a hostage to these rituals. Maybe at some point Lena didn't need to crawl under the covers in the sector, but it seems that if you don't do something, you won't be able to jump," Sidorova said in an interview with RT.
However, unlike Isinbayeva, Anzhelika did not manage to become an Olympic champion. In 2016, Russian athletes were not allowed to participate in the Games in Rio de Janeiro due to the suspension of RusAF, and in Tokyo she lost to American Katie Najotte, making a tactical mistake: she moved the remaining third attempt from 4.90 m to 4.95 m and could not overcome the bar, as a result, she was left with silver. Nevertheless, this medal was equivalent to gold, as it was the first for Russian athletes in nine years.
Alas, Sidorova will not be given a second chance to climb to the top step of the podium at the Games due to the categorical decision of World Athletics. Therefore, as Chen noted, it is now time for young people to defend the colors of the national flag at the international level.
"Angelica has done a lot for our athletics and the entire national sport during her career. She won a huge number of competitions, was a medalist of the Olympic Games. Now we won't see her at international competitions, she has already chosen a normal women's path for herself. So go ahead and sing a song," the RT interlocutor added.
However, so far young people cannot come close to Sidorova's results. The reigning champion of Russia, 24-year-old Polina Knoroz, managed to overcome the bar at a height of 4.75 m this year, and this is still her personal record.