The first start of the high jumper Maria Lasickene as an Olympic champion has been postponed.
The Russian athlete was going to perform on August 21 in the American Eugene at the stage of the Diamond League, but this will not happen.
The 28-year-old athlete has not received a visa to enter the United States and will miss the competition.
The Olympic silver medalist in pole vaulting Angelica Sidorova found herself in exactly the same situation.
For a long time, nothing was known about the problem of the two leading Russian athletes, until Lasitskene spoke about them after her victory in Tokyo.
She asked for help with paperwork, since there were only two weeks left before the start in the USA at that time.
“On August 21, the stage of the Diamond League is in Eugene, and we do not have visas.
And we don't know how to make them.
Maybe someone can help?
I would not like to skip these stages, after all, so much effort has been spent and I want to show beautiful jumps.
It's too early to finish the season, it can be said that it is just beginning, there is a lot of things ahead, ”Lasitskene told Match TV.
A few days later, the athlete's personal trainer Gennady Gabrilyan said that an American company supplying equipment had volunteered to help.
According to him, this could be the last chance for his ward to go to the tournament.
“The athlete's manager Olga Nazarova turned to the representative office of the famous American outfitter, because they are interested in Masha performing in Eugene.
At the moment they are preparing an invitation for us.
They will try to get visas through the consulate.
There is no other option, it is simply impossible.
We hope that this is how we will succeed, ”RIA Novosti quoted Gabrilyan.
The Ministry of Sports was also involved in solving the problem.
On August 12, the department said that Lasitskene did not inform about her intention to speak in the United States, but officials promised to do everything possible together with the Foreign Ministry.
“Unfortunately, neither the All-Russian Athletics Federation, nor Maria Lasitskene herself previously informed the Ministry of Sports of the Russian Federation about the athlete's plans to participate in the stage of the Diamond League in Eugene. As soon as it became known, the Department of Sports promptly joined in resolving the issue of obtaining a visa to enter the United States. Currently, the Russian Ministry of Sports, together with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, is working on options for obtaining a visa for an athlete. We provide similar support to Angelica Sidorova. Taking into account the limited time remaining until the stage of the Diamond League in Eugene, the Ministry of Sports will make every effort to ensure that athletes compete at subsequent competitions in the United States, ”the department said.
However, the matter did not get off the ground.
The athletes' entourage continued to receive comments that they had not received visas, and as a result, three days before the start of the competition and the day before the planned departure, it became known that the competition for Lasitskene and Sidorova was postponed after the Olympics.
“Maria will not compete at the Diamond League stage in Eugene due to the fact that she does not have an American entry visa.
Her next start will be a stage in Lausanne on August 26, ”the athlete's manager Olga Nazarova told TASS.
For Lasitskene, missing the tournament will be a blow, since now she risks missing the final stage of the series in Zurich, where the main trophy of the competition and a prize of $ 30 thousand will be played out.The Russian woman has no luck in the Diamond League this season - she was only fourth at the Gateshead competition, and missed the stage in Stockholm due to injury. This led to the fact that in the overall standings she is still in eighth place, and only six athletes will be able to qualify for the final. Lasicken now needs to perform as best as possible in Lausanne, Paris and Brussels in order to maintain a chance for a fifth victory in the prestigious tournament.
For Sidorova, skipping the stage in Eugene is not so critical.
In her discipline, all the preliminary stages have already passed, and the Russian woman has earned the right to perform in the final.
But for the $ 10,000, which is due to the winner of individual tournaments, she will no longer compete.
Until the final in Zurich, Sidorova will only compete at the less prestigious competitions in Padua on September 5.
Olympic champion in tennis mixed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova also experienced problems with obtaining an American visa.
Because of this, she withdrew from the tournament in Cincinnati taking place these days.
Fortunately, the necessary documents have been completed, and she will not miss the last Grand Slam tournament of the season - the US Open, which starts on August 30.