Russia's Darya Klishina says she feels ‘lonely’ and ‘stressed’.
DARYA Klishina says she is so stressed by the past week of her life that she can’t even talk about it.
It’s not over yet, either.
Klishina, the sole Russian track and field athlete allowed to compete at the Rio Olympics in the wake of the doping scandal that has rocked the Games, comfortably qualified for the final of the women’s long jump today.
Klishina went out to 6.64m on her first jump in qualifying, followed by two no-marks.
It was enough to see her make the top 12 jumpers for tomorrow’s final at the Olympic Stadium.
Klishina won a last-minute verdict by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to get into the Rio Games.
Asked about being the only competitor representing Russia in the athletics program, Klishina said she felt “alone” and “stressed”.
“It is very hard being the only Russian, as normally we are a big team with big support and I am alone,” Klishina said.
“I want the Russian team here with me. I was nervous. I had too much stress over the last week but I do not want to talk about the last week.”
Russia's athletes, in general, have not had many friends at the Games.Source:AP
The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) had approved Klishina as the only Russian entrant at the Olympics but then excluded her in a shock move on Friday after getting new information about her doping samples.
The 25-year-old former European indoor champion had been allowed into Rio because she is based in the United States and underwent regular international doping tests.
After a day of hearings Sunday, the CAS special anti-doping tribunal announced in the early hours of Monday that Klishina’s appeal had succeeded and she “remained eligible to compete in the Olympic Games in Rio”.
Canadian lawyer Richard McLaren provided new evidence to the IAAF about Klishina last week that led to the withdrawal of her Rio eligibility.
The new evidence concerned two urine sample bottles that had been tampered with. One contained two different DNA sets.
Klishina soars into the long jump final.Source:Getty Images
The CAS said that despite the evidence, Klishina met the IAAF testing criteria to compete in Rio.
The McLaren report for the World Anti-Doping Authority accused the Russian government of “state-sponsored” doping including by tampering with the samples of Russian athletes.
Joining Klishina in tomorrow’s final will be American Brittney Reese, who already owns more global long jump titles than any other woman in history.
Defending Olympic gold medallist Reese, also a three-time world champion (2009, 2011, 2013) qualified on her first attempt 6.78m, with the mark set at 6.75 or at least the 12 best performers.
Serbia’s Ivana Spanovic, a two-time world bronze medallist headed the listings with a best of 6.87m.
American Tianna Bartoletta regained her world title last year, 10 years after winning her maiden crown, and will have a shot at Olympic glory as her 6.70m saw her go through.
— with AFP
Darya Klishina.Source:AP
