Commenting on The International Functional Fitness Federation’s decision, Kornelija Dūdaitė, who was competing in the Functional Fitness World Championship in Budapest, told Lithuania’s public broadcaster LRT that she was simply expressing her civic stance.
She said: “I had this T-shirt, the same one that the Ukrainian president wore, and I thought that if it was necessary to show our civic position, I would show it.
The athlete said that when her team arrived in Hungary, they noticed that the event’s organizers expressed their happiness at Russia’s participation in the tournament on social media.
She added: “It seemed wrong to me. I don’t think that an aggressor country can be congratulated anywhere at all.”
Bending the rules for Russians
Dūdaitė also said that despite Russian athletes being allowed to compete under neutral status, they wore shirts with their country’s name and symbols on them.
She continued: “We took photos of Russian athletes, and their shirts clearly display ‘Russia.’ All their accreditations are issued under Russia. Even the event commentators, when announcing the athletes, mention that they are from Russia.
“On the other hand, it was said that my shirt offended them [the organizers]. I then asked, how can neutral athletes be offended? After all, officially, Russia isn’t even participating in this competition. I never got an answer.”
The organizers told Dūdaitė she could continue competing if she removed the shirt and deleted any photos of it, but she refused, prioritizing her values over a potential victory in the championship.
She said: “Here we are already talking not about sports, but about values. If I had to give away a place on the podium, I would have given it away with an easy hand.”
Following her decision, the entire Lithuanian team pulled out of the competition in protest against the organizers’ failure to enforce neutrality rules.
