2024-07-31 23:06:38
The story with Lithuania began even before Paris, when the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) partially satisfied the appeal of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) regarding the Romanian Florentina Lusco, whose body last year was found to contain an illegal substance – furosemide.
The CAS decision resulted in the Romanian being removed from the list of Olympic long jump athletes. It included 32 female athletes with the best ranking on the planet. The Romanian was the 25th, so if the Romanian was eliminated, the 33rd ranked athlete basically got the chance to start. And it was J. Petrokaitė.
Although our girl was waiting for the invitation and made a clear request herself to be included in the list of participants, the International Athletics Federation sent a letter explaining that the Lithuanians are not waiting because all the places in the Olympic village are already taken.
The athlete herself wrote the answer on the Instagram social network: “The selection model for the Olympic Games is complicated, and after the final list of participants was approved a few days ago, it became clear that the representatives of athletics exceeded the general quota of athletes.”
“Due to limited space in the Olympic Village, we will not be able to replace athletes who withdraw a few days before the start of the Games, so applications are now closed,” the International Association of Athletics Federations wrote.
J. Petrokaitė herself expressed her great disappointment about such a strange situation when she could not become an Olympian: “If the Romanian had been eliminated earlier, since her doping scandal started in 2023. April, already on July 7 I could have called myself the 32nd Olympic long jumper.
“Now WA is trying every way to reduce the number of athletes, and I would agree with that if an athlete had an injury or something, but here an athlete is caught with doping, and because of this, I lose the chance to fulfill my dream,” the athlete wrote.
The women’s long jump qualification stage at the Paris Olympic Games is scheduled for August 6, so J. Petrokaitė would still be able to arrive.
2024-07-31 23:06:38