Aksana did a lap of honor under… a blanket. And it clearly showed the absurdity of the sanctions.
In 2015, the All-Russian Athletics Federation (ARAF) was burned by a doping scandal. Because of what happened, our athletes were prohibited from taking part in competitions under their native flag. However, not everyone was ready to celebrate victories under a white neutral canvas.
The young athlete came up with an original replacement for the Russian banner after winning the European Championship.
Sport is in the blood
The fate of Aksana Gataullina was, it seems, predetermined from her very birth. Her father is a 1988 Olympic silver medalist in the pole vault, and her mother is an athletics coach. The girl, however, did not come to the pole right away. At first, she was more interested in hurdles and also did long jump. Only at the age of 14 Aksana came to the sport, which became the main one for her. Gataullina began training under the guidance of her father.
Aksana Gataullina / Photo: © Dmitry Chelyapin / Match TV
At the age of 18, the first successes came: bronze at the Znamensky Brothers Memorial, silver at the Russian Championship… The next year came an international victory – albeit at the youth level. Aksana won the European U20 Championship.
After that, there were still various achievements at domestic Russian tournaments. However, the victory at the European Championship remains Gataullina’s only one at the international level. At the tournament in Sweden, the athlete distinguished herself not only with a jump of 4.36 meters, but also with a spectacular celebration of the gold medal.
Polka dot blanket
Gataullina admitted that the neutral flag spoils her joy from victories. She has watched more than once how the tough Russian track and field athlete Sergei Shubenkov, after a triumph at international competitions, cannot take a lap of honor under the flag of his country and simply stands modestly on the sidelines. The girl did not want to repeat such a story by her own example, so she came up with an interesting replacement for the forbidden banner.
After the victory, Gataullina staged a race in front of the stands with… a purple polka dot blanket! According to the athlete, she deliberately chose something very catchy. As a result, Aksana’s action was a huge success: her rivals laughed and the stadium applauded. The girl herself told reporters that she simply “decided to fool around.”
Aksana Gataullina / Photo: © Dmitry Chelyapin / Match TV
A video of Gataullina celebrating her victory under a purple blanket quickly went viral on social networks. Interestingly, a year before this something similar happened in Russian football. Rostov fans came to the match with a carpet instead of a banner with the team’s colors. As a result, the club made a whole PR campaign out of this and even released uniforms in the colors of the carpet.
There were fears that Gataullina’s celebration might bring her into trouble, but fortunately no problems arose. And what, exactly, could international officials present to the athlete? She did not demonstrate anything forbidden, and if she hinted at the absurdity of sanctions against Russia, she did it very subtly.
2023-10-09 20:25:23
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