High jumper Danil Lysenko showed the best result of the winter season in the world.
At the Battle of the Sexes tournament in Moscow, he took the bar raised by 2.38 meters.
The athlete also made two attempts to break the Russian record, owned by Ivan Ukhov.
However, it was not possible to overcome 2.41 m.
However, such a result is an excellent start to the season, if you remember how long the athlete has traveled to return to the sector again.
Danil was and remains one of the most gifted Russian high jumpers.
In 2018, at the stage of the Diamond League, the 21-year-old athlete took 2.40 m. Of the Russians, only Ivan Ukhov (2.42) jumped higher, but this result was canceled.
In the Soviet period, the bar obeyed Igor Paklin (2.41).
Not very far from Lysenko's numbers is the world record (2.45) held by Cuban Javier Sotomayor.
It is significant that if Lysenko had jumped so high at the Tokyo Olympics, he would have won gold.
There, all three winners overcame only 2.37 m.
Experts predicted a great future for Danil: the results of the athlete grew so quickly.
The first big summer tournament for the young man was to be the 2018 European Championship.
On it, he was considered a favorite.
Everyone was waiting for the jump at 2.40.
But instead, Lysenko found himself at the center of a doping scandal.
He missed three tests and received an automatic suspension.
The story could have ended there, but for some reason the athlete tried to challenge this decision at CAS by going there with fake documents.
The deception was quickly exposed, and the ARAF faced huge problems that are still being dealt with.
Lysenko, on the other hand, was deprived of funding from the Ministry of Sports and the Federation.
He had to earn money by working as a truck driver and food delivery man.
Luckily, he got married.
But, of course, it was not possible to fully engage in sports in such conditions.
Nevertheless,
And in 2021 another tragedy occurred.
In the 79th year, Danila's coach passed away - the great Evgeny Zagorulko, who brought up a whole galaxy of the strongest high jumpers.
For a long time it was not clear who would agree to cooperate with a man who had so heavily tarnished his reputation.
And few believed that after such a scandal, the athlete would find the strength to return to the sector.
However, Lysenko's tenacity can be envied.
Six months before the end of the disqualification, he began to actively engage.
It is not known exactly with whom the athlete worked before returning to the starts, but since August 2022, Sydney Olympic champion Sergey Klyugin has officially become his mentor.
The return of the Russian took place at a tournament in the Sverdlovsk region.
He won the competition by clearing the bar set at 2.31.
And he immediately silenced the skeptics who were sure that after four years he would not be able to jump above two meters.
As noted by Anna Chicherova, Olympic champion in high jump, Danil's talent and lightness have not gone away.
“After a long pause, one could expect anything from an athlete.
But the result speaks for itself.
I think that Ilya Ivanyuk will now have a good company within the country to compete not only with himself and height.
The return of Lysenko is very important for the competition, and in the near future we will observe a beautiful struggle at large levels, including in the upcoming winter season, ”the RT interlocutor noted then.
Now Lysenko has gone through a full-fledged preparation for the winter season and at the very first, albeit a commercial start, he almost repeated his personal record.
Given the huge potential for the Paris Olympics, he will again be able to regain his status as the main favorite of the sector for the high jump.
Moreover, in 2024, the athlete will be 27 years old - the prime of his career.
One thing overshadows the situation: until the VFLA is restored in its rights, and athletes can compete in international competitions under a neutral status, it seems unlikely to see Danil at starts abroad.
The scandal was too loud for World Athletics to give the Russian a green light.
This is not to mention the removal of all domestic sports because of the SVO in Ukraine.
However, Lysenko is not going to give up and promised journalists to submit documents to the international federation to obtain a neutral status.
Still, the fact of doping by Danil was not recorded.
“I am glad that I am showing such results in our country, but I hope they will soon give me the opportunity to compete there and show that our country is strong.
I read the news.
For some reason, I have a good feeling.
Let's hope for the best.
Will there be problems with this due to a past disqualification?
Not
I know.
I don't want to think about it.
I hope there will be no problems,” said the high jumper.
There is one advantage to the current situation.
After four years of suspension, Danil missed the competition and, unlike Maria Lasitskene, enjoys performing.
He does not need additional motivation to improve results.