Lithuanian swimmers participating in the World Veterans Games in Taiwan refused to stand on the podium with Russian athletes.
This is reported by 15min.lt.
This position was taken by swimmer Ausra Garjulenė, who won four gold and two silver medals, Sigitas Katkevicius, who won three gold and three silver medals, and athlete Lina Belinene.
The World Masters Games-2025 brought 25,000 professionals who had already completed their active sports careers to Taipei. However, the sports games are taking place in Taiwan after a long break – the last such event was held in New Zealand in 2017.
“There were also our unfriendly Russian neighbours, who participated under flags. We had to compete with them in the same relay. We decided not to climb the podium with them, but to come separately and be awarded separately,” jauns.lv quotes Lina Belenine as saying.
The World Masters Games 2025 is the third-largest multi-sport event on the planet, after the Olympics and the Asian Games, with 25,049 participants from 108 countries competing in 35 sports. The Games are held every four years for veteran athletes. The organizer is the International Masters Games Association (IMGA). The status of the competition is similar to veteran world championships, but covers all Olympic and several non-Olympic disciplines.
As a reminder, the representative of the Lithuanian functional sports team, Cornelia Dudayte, decided to withdraw from the World Championships, which were held in Budapest (Hungary), due to the admission of Russians to the competition.
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