MOSCOW, October 25. /TASS/. Russia’s gymnastics world champion Angelina Melnikova told TASS on Monday that she missed the Russian flag and national anthem at the 2021 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Japan’s Kitakyushu.

Last Thursday, Melnikova won gold in the women’s individual all-around competition at the 2021 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Japan. Melnikova’s gold in the women’s individual all-around competition was the first for Russia since 2010, when Aliya Mustafina won this event at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Rotterdam.

"I did not feel any discomfort, but I surely missed the national flag," she said in an interview with TASS. "I also missed the Russian anthem because I was longing to hear it standing on the top step of the pedestal after such particularly important win."

The 2021 Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Japan’s Kitakyushu was held on October 18-24, 2021. The Japanese city is also set to host the 2021 Rhythmic Gymnastics World Championships between October 27 and 31.

Besides winning the gold in the women’s all-around individual competition in Japan, Melnikova also took the silver in the women’s floor exercise and the bronze in the women’s vault exercise.

Melnikova, 21, is the silver medal winner of the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in the women’s team event. Participating for the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) Team at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Japan’s Tokyo she is the winner of the gold medal in the team event and of two bronze medals (individual all-around and floor exercise events). Before winning the gold in Japan on October 21, she already packed two silver and two bronze medals at the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships.

Due to current sanctions in place against the Russian sports, national gymnasts of Russia participated in the international tournament in Japan’s Kitakyushu as Team RGF (Russian Gymnastics Federation) and under the flag of the RGF. Melnokova was awarded the gold to the tune of the First Piano Concerto by Pyotr Tchaikovsky instead of the national anthem.

Sanctions against Russian sports

On December 17, 2020, the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland’s Lausanne partially upheld WADA’s (the World Anti-Doping Agency) previous ruling on a number of sanctions against Russian sports.

Following the CAS decision, Russian athletes were deprived of their right to participate in all World Championships, Olympic and Paralympic Games under the national flag of Russia and to the tune of the national anthem for a two-year period.

The ruling of the Swiss-based court also stripped Russia of the right to bid for the organization of all international sports tournaments for a period of two years. WADA’s sanctions will be in force until December 2022.