High jumper Danil Lysenko fulfilled the condition for entering the 2024 Olympics

On July 1, the main qualification for the athletics tournament of the Olympic Games in Paris 2024 began. In Brest, the international competition “We are together” took place over the weekend. The qualification standards for participation in the Games were fulfilled by: high jumper Danil Lysenko, hammer throwers Elizaveta Tsareva and Valery Pronkin. And Lysenko thus also repeated the best result of the season in the world.

Yes, blink the weather at this moment – and Danil Lysenko in the second attempt could not repeat, but set the best result of the season in the world. In the rank of the winner of the tournament, having fulfilled the qualification standard for the Games – 2.33 meters, Danil tried three times to reach the next height in Brest. But when trying to conquer 2.35 meters, both the headwind and the rain dropped his plans and the bar. But this second attempt was on the verge of “just about”, but the bar from the wind first swayed, and then fell.

On July 1, the qualifying selection for the Olympic athletics tournament started, the selection will run until June 30, 2024. And on the very first day, Lysenko already had this standard in his file. As well as the best result of the season in the world, along with a whole group of athletes: from our Ilya Ivanyuk to the Australian Joel Baden, the American Juwon Harrison and U Sang Hyuk from South Korea.

In Brest, our hammer throwers Elizaveta Tsareva and Valery Pronkin fulfilled the qualification Olympic standards. The standard for women’s hammer throw is 74 meters. Tsareva won with a score of 74.65 meters. And this is the best result of the season in Europe.

The Olympic standard for men is 78.20. And the duel of Valery Pronkina and Belarusian Alexander Shimanovich became the highlight of the tournament “We are together.” Valeriy gave a powerful series of shots, already in the second attempt he completed the standard, the best of the attempts was a throw at 79.94. But Shimanovich, as if hiding for a while, snatched a beautiful victory with the final attempt: 80.26. Motivation in competition. Or vice versa.

Asking the question, why do our athletes need this Olympic standard, is the same as asking: why do they continue to do the business they chose as a child? Yes, the board of the International Association of Athletics Federations, which returned ARAF membership back in March after seven and a half years of road maps, fines and the issuance of neutral status to the elected, still stands its ground. And he refuses to allow Russian athletes to compete – now because of the situation in Ukraine.

Although back in April it seemed that the situation could change. VFLA First Vice President Irina Privalova then expressed her hope that World Athletics would provide the criteria for the admission of our athletes before the start of the summer season, which officially began just at the end of April. “Hopefully the eligibility criteria will be positive enough for our athletics.” And the international expert of the federation and the secretary general of the ARAF were in touch with WA all the time.

But – alas. There are no criteria, no admission either. On August 17, WA leadership elections will be held in Hungary. And two days later, the World Cup will also begin there. And today World Athletics has already answered the question of whether it intends to invite representatives of the All-Russian Athletics Federation to the elective congress in Budapest. And even though Russia is a member of the WA, the ARAF will not receive an invitation to participate in the congress in Budapest, as well as the right to participate in elections. The World Cup will again take place without us.

The leaders of our track and field athletics of recent years – Maria Lasitskene, Anzhelika Sidorova, Sergey Shubenkov – dropped out today even from those competitions that remained. But everyone’s reasons are different. The medalist of the 2020 Olympic Games and the world champion in pole vault Anzhelika Sidorova is joyful: expecting a child.

Olympic champion Maria Lasitskene could not contain her emotions at one of the tournaments and burst into tears. Said her international career was over. “Everything has already been decided, no matter what we do, we are not expected there.”

According to the mood, the body behaved, the injury worsened. Coach Gennady Gabrilyan said that Maria “will miss an indefinite number of starts, entering the sector will depend on the speed of recovery.”

And the 2015 world champion in the 110-meter hurdles Sergei Shubenkov, who said that he was not going to end his career in the next two years, seemed to have croaked unexpected events for himself. Along the way, with thoughts about continuing to run, he also voiced some doubts into which he was “thrown”: maybe, they say, not to stay in sports, but to “dig up” his law degree. And arguing that it is not in vain that the concept of a comfort zone exists, “you will have to leave it.”

Not having time to really start the season, Shubenkov fell off a recently purchased motorcycle and was seriously injured. At the same time – and impartial words from the coach Sergei Klevtsov, who has been working with the runner for many years. The coach called Shubenkov’s trip a “disappointing act” and remembered the words of Elena Isinbayeva. The world pole star once said that she would never allow herself to go to the skating rink because it was dangerous.

The coach also expressed doubts about Shubenkov’s return to duty this season, saying that he is always there, but he doesn’t know if it will work out. The athlete himself said that he underwent surgery on a broken collarbone, and now he is a “cyborg with a titanium bone.” He called his prospects “foggy”, although without hope.

… Such a description, probably, can be given today to all of our athletics. During the years of the doping ban, many stars have been lost, the last of the Mohicans do not announce their departure, but it is becoming more and more difficult for them to stay locked up every day. New stars do not appear or hint about themselves so far too timidly.

Does this mean that we need to stop “churning butter”? No one will forbid our athletes to show the best results of the season in the world in athletics. (As well as the best personal results.) Ilya Ivanyuk and Danil Lysenko have already used this right. And let only such motivational examples not solve all the problems of our athletics, accumulated over the years of the ban. But outside the comfort zone, there is also a great life.