Russian world champion talks about feeling ashamed of Russia

World athletics champion and sports commentator Yolanda Chen has criticised Russian officials for trying to keep athletes who want to change their citizenship. She called such athletes second-rate and "ashamed to even cling to them".

Chen said this in an interview with the Metaratings portal. The winner of the Barcelona 95 World Championships in the triple jump added that star athletes and leaders of their national teams do not leave the aggressor country. In addition, she condemned the idea of demanding compensation from athletes for training when they change their sports citizenship.

"I wouldn't react at all to statements about changing sports citizenship. If people want to leave, for God's sake. Why do we have to come up with compensation, cling to people who want to leave? Do we not respect ourselves, or what? It's their life, their destiny, let them do it. It's even a shame for such a powerful sports power to cling to some minor athletes who are going to leave," Chen said.

Interestingly, she had previously called for Russian athletes to be assigned supervisors to prevent them from signing documents condemning the war in Ukraine.

As OBOZREVATEL previously reported, Valentina Rodionenko, senior coach of the Russian national gymnastics team, said she did not understand why Ukraine was seeking to "remove Russia" from world sport.

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