Olympic champion refuses to meet with Russian sports minister

Maria Lasitskene has refused to meet with Russian Sports Minister Oleg Matytsin, Report informs citing RIA Novosti that according to the husband of the athlete Vladas Lasitskas, Russian Olympic high jump champion Maria Lasitskene refused to meet with Russian Sports Minister Oleg Matytsin.

On Friday, it became known that Matytsin on March 21 will discuss measures of support with Russian athletes in the face of sanctions restrictions. Among the athletes invited to the meeting was Lasitskene.

“A press release of the Sports Ministry surprised me, since Masha did not give her consent to the meeting. As a result, she refused this event. She does not need support; she needs the opportunity to compete with the strongest athletes in the world. But in this matter, as we see, neither the sports minister, neither the head of the ROC [the Russian Olympic Committee], nor the World Athletics Federation helped Masha," Lasitskene said.

Earlier, the General Assembly of the Diamond League against the backdrop of events in Ukraine did not allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete at the stages of the series.