Today, the Russian Olympic Committee held a meeting of the Athletics Working Group. Following the results of the meeting, the President of the ROC Stanislav Pozdnyakov and three-time World Champion in high jump, member of RusAF Athletes’ Commission Maria Lasitskene readily answered the questions of journalists.
Stanislav Pozdnyakov:
– The meeting was held in a constructive and friendly atmosphere and we managed to discuss quite a lot. I will single out the following topics: we adopted the rules for the extraordinary election conference to be held in the ROC on February 28, and established stringent criteria for admitting candidates for leadership positions in RusAF. We have come up with strict, I would even say unprecedented, criteria.
The situation is quite complicated and unpleasant, and now we cannot do with half-measures as they simply do not work. In the near future, the relevant criteria will be published. The main message is that officials who have been found violating anti-doping rules or suspected of violating them cannot apply for the posts of leaders or members on the Presidium of RusAF.
Furthermore, today we have set out the dates for the next scheduled meetings of the Working Group – February 21 and 27 respectively.
Maria Lasitskene:
– As a member of the ROC Working Group, I witnessed that the relevant work was underway, and that there was a desire to assist athletes. It is important that we are being heard. Today I became convinced that many hard-working and dedicated people are working together in order to set things right. So there is hope looking ahead.
My schedule on the international level is full up until September. I am really looking forward to competing again. As for the chance to represent our country at the upcoming Tokyo Olympics, I would say chances are 50/50.
