MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th November, 2019) Russian high jumper Mariya Lasitskene, one of the most prominent track and field athletes and one who has never been accused of doping, was barred from competing in the World Indoor Tour in Glasgow because of the sanctions imposed on the Russian Athletics Federation (RusAF), the athlete's manager, Olga Nazarova, told Sputnik on Wednesday.
The Indoor Tour stage in Glasgow is scheduled for February 15, 2020. On Friday, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) Council recommended that admission of Russian athletes who compete under a neutral status be suspended and the procedure for assigning athletes the status reconsidered. The council also prolonged RusAF's suspension, which has been in place since 2015.
"Yesterday they wrote a letter that, unfortunately, Mariya was removed from the start list because she received an instruction that Russia's status had not been confirmed. Mariya was expelled from the list of participants," Nazarova said.
RusAF's IAAF membership was suspended in 2015 over allegations that Russian officials had been involved in schemes to cover up doping violations in Russian sports. The suspension resulted in Russian athletes only being able to compete at the international level under a neutral flag and only after receiving individual permission.
In October, Lasitskene, 26, was awarded the Women's European Athlete of the Year by the European Athletics Association, winning 22 out of 24 competitions last season, including the Glasgow 2019 European Athletics Indoor Championship and the World Championship in Qatar's Doha.
Lasitskene has never faced doping accusations during her career, nor has she been suspected of such.
