MOSCOW, July 21. /TASS/. The reaction of the sports community to statements by two-time Olympic pole vault champion Yelena Isinbaeva is understandable, however, one shouldn’t forget her accomplishments while competing for Russia, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told TASS on Thursday.
"Of course, the sports community has a harsh reaction to Isinbaeva’s statement. It turns out that, not knowing what this was about, we simply slam the athlete we were quite recently so proud of. She did not condemn anything, she did not criticize anyone, she is simply fulfilling her functions, after all, it is absolutely unimportant where she resides. Our anthem was played and our flag was hoisted in her honor so many times that it should be remembered and must not be forgotten," the Kremlin official said.
On July 17, Isinbaeva said on social networks that in September 2023, she would resume her work on the Athletes’ Commission of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) because the organization could not identify any grounds for her dismissal. Isinbaeva noted that during her athletic career she had never served in the Russian Armed Forces while her rank of a major was purely "nominal," bestowed while she was competing for the CSKA sports club. Earlier, it was reported that she had moved to Tenerife, Spain.
Isinbaeva, 41, is a two-time Olympic gold medalist (2004, 2008) in pole vaulting. She earned the bronze at the 2012 Olympics. The athlete was elected to the IOC Athletes’ Commission in August 2016 for an eight-year term.