Sebastian Coe attends Diamond League’s London Anniversary Games at London Stadium in London July 20, 2019. — Reuters pic
BELGRADE, March 17 — Athletics chiefs are not expecting any disruption to the World Indoor Championships when they kick off tomorrow in Serbia, a nation where many people openly support Russian President Vladimir Putin and his decision to invade Ukraine.
For centuries, Serbia and Russia have been united by deep fraternal ties — from their Slavic and Orthodox heritage to their steadfast alliances during the World Wars of the 20th century.
Moscow’s influence in Serbia remains ubiquitous, with Russian oil and gas providing the backbone of the country’s energy sector.
Russian tourists have poured into the country during the pandemic because Covid-19 rules are more lax than at home, while T-shirts featuring Putin’s face are widely available at kiosks around Belgrade.
But World Athletics president Sebastian Coe insisted that all was in hand for the smooth running of the indoor championships, which begin on Friday and will feature 680 athletes from 137 countries.
“There’s certainly support for Ukrainian athletes, but there’s support for all our athletes, that’s the way we operate,” Coe said today.
“Track and field has historically always been a sport that has understood and accepted the fragilities of the political landscape but has normally come together in a very cohesive and collective way.”
Coe added: “I’m not expecting any issues in the stadium. We have all the right processes and systems in place…”
“I’m sure that these are the world championships and sport will win through.”
Serbian athletics federation president Veselin Jevrosimovic was quick to add: “We also had demonstrations against the war in Ukraine.”
Athletes from what Coes dubs “aggressor states” Russia and Belarus are banned from competing in Belgrade.
Fleeing conflict
But Ukraine will feature a team of six women, many of whom had their own harrowing accounts of how the Russian invasion had affected them and their families.
Yaroslava Mahuchikh, the reigning European indoor high jump champion who won Olympic bronze in Tokyo, described how she was forced to leave her home in Dnipro just three weeks ago as the conflict escalated.
“After hours of total panic, we left our city, moving to a little village not far from home,” she said in comments carried by European Athletics’ website.
“Nobody thought about training at that time as we were forced to spend days in the cellar just monitoring the news from Kyiv, Sumy and Kharkiv minute-by-minute.”
Somehow, Ukrainian federation officials and coaches, in cooperation with World Athletics and the Romanian and Serbian athletics federations “managed to arrange my trip to Belgrade, a trip of almost 2,000 kilometres”, said Mahuchikh.
“It was more than three days to get here, a nervous trip. Hundreds of phone calls, many changes of direction, explosions, fires, and air raid sirens.
“I would like to think that it was just nightmarish dream, but this is reality of getting anywhere in my country even today. This is the reality of the war.”
Mahuchikh, however, struck a defiant note in Belgrade.
“Today all Ukrainians have different battlefronts,” she said.
“We must fight everywhere to prove our strength and our power. My front line for the next few days is the women’s high jump competition at the World Indoor Championships.” — AFP