The 2024 iF3 Functional Fitness World Championships kicked off today in Budapest, Hungary. The three-day competition, however, began with some drama surrounding how the Russian athletes were recognized, a protest by a Lithuanian athlete followed by her disqualification and a public apology by the iF3.
I’ll breakdown all that happened, but let’s first begin with some background.
BACKGROUND
In 2017 Russian athletes were suspended from competing in the Olympics by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). As such, Russian athletes were only allowed to compete as neutral athletes without flying the Russian flag or playing the national anthem.
For the 2024 iF3 World Championships, Russian athletes were allowed to compete after the iF3 National Federations voted in June 2023 to follow the IOC’s recommendations regarding their participation in sport.
That recommendation was to allow athletes with a Russian passport to compete as “Independent Neutral Athletes (AIN)”.
iF3 MISTAKE
On Friday, Day 1 of the 2024 iF3 World Championships, Russia was mistakenly included on the athlete name cards of the Russian athletes competing as Independent Neutral Athletes. On top of this, announcers referred to these athletes as “Russian athletes”.
Upon realizing the mistake, the iF3 worked with the local organizers to address the situation by removing the athlete name cards and correcting the announcers to identify the Russian athletes as Independent Neutral Athletes.
The mistake, however, angered some athletes.
LITHUANIAN PROTEST
Körnelija Düdaitė, representing Lithuania and competing in the Women’s Masters 30-34 year-old division, took offense to the mistake. She was also upset by how she perceived the iF3 officials’ attitude towards the Russian athletes.
“When we arrived in Hungary, congratulations from the organizers themselves appeared on social media, how they congratulated the Russians, how happy they were with their participation,” Düdaitė told the Lithuanian National Radio and Television. She added, “It seemed wrong to me. I don’t think that an aggressor country can be congratulated anywhere at all.”
In an act of protest, Düdaitė wore a t-shirt that read, “make russia small again” onto the competition floor Friday. The t-shirt was the same that Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wore last month.
According to Düdaitė, iF3 officials asked her to change her shirt with the words “make russia small again” or to leave the competition premises citing the sportsmanship clause of the iF3 rulebook.
Düdaitė told iF3 officials that she would not change her shirt and that they would have to disqualify her.
She later received an official letter from the iF3 formally requesting that she remove her shirt and all photos on social media. Düdaitė refused and was escorted out of the arena by security.
In a statement by the iF3 officials, they said the iF3 “requires athletes to display integrity, sportsmanship, and respect for fellow competitors, officials, and organizers at all times.
LITHUANIA WITHDRAWS
Following Düdaitė’s disqualification, the Lithuanian Functional Fitness Federation withdrew from the 2024 iF3 World Championships.
The organization released the following statement on Instagram:
“Lithuanian Functional Fitness Federation has decided to withdraw from the World Championships, that is being held in in Budapest (Hungary) due to the organizers’ negligent attitude towards the “neutral flag” policy.
“Athletes were allowed to demonstrate the national symbols of the aggressor state during the competition – it was clearly visible in the live broadcast as well as the name of this country was mentioned continuesly [sic].
“This organizers’ negligence that ignores „neutral flag“ policy, is absolutely incompatible with our values, therefore the Lithuanian Functional Fitness Federation recommended national team members withdraw from the competition.”
iF3 RESPONSE AND APOLOGY
Officials from the iF3 responded to the situation by acknowledging their mistake surrounding the recognition of Russian athletes during the first event. They also addressed the situation surrounding Düdaitė, her subsequent removal from competition and Team Lithuania’s withdrawal.
Read the full iF3 response:
“The iF3 was saddened to learn of the withdrawal of team Lithuania from the iF3 World Championships after the first day of competition. We firmly believe that sport should remain apolitical and open to all.
“The iF3 National Federations voted in June of 2023 to follow the International Olympic Committee (IOC) recommendations on the return of Russian athletes to international competitions. As such, athletes with a Russian passport were allowed to return to competition as Independent Neutral Athletes (AIN) with certain restrictions in accordance with IOC recommendations.
“We want to be clear that our Independent Neutral Athletes from Russia have abided by these restrictions on their end. They entered the competition as neutrals, marched under a neutral flag in the Opening Ceremony, and do not have any Russian symbols on their uniforms.
“However, the name Russia was incorrectly placed on athlete name cards and for a period of time in the beginning of day 1, the announcing team was referring to these athletes as “Russian athletes.” These oversights were the fault of the iF3.
“While the restrictions were regularly discussed and agreed upon with the local organizing committee, there were details that we missed in execution. As soon as the iF3 learned of the issues, we worked with the local organizing team and the affected federations to address them as quickly as possible, while understanding that adjustments made after the fact could not fully make up for our mistake.
“The same time these mistakes were discovered, the iF3 was made aware of a Lithuanian athlete wearing a t-shirt that was deemed to be in violation of the sportsmanship clause of the iF3 rulebook. The athlete was asked to change their shirt or remove themselves from the premises as the iF3 requires athletes to display integrity, sportsmanship, and respect for fellow competitors, officials, and organizers at all times.
“The iF3 deeply regrets the oversights which contributed to the withdrawal of the Lithuanian team. The iF3 takes full responsibility for our failure to clearly uphold the apolitical nature of the event and is committed to ensuring this will not occur in the future.
“We look forward to seeing the Lithuanian athletes back on the floor in 2025 as we head to their home country for what we know will be an exceptional World Championship.”
MOVING FORWARD
The iF3 World Championships will continue the remainder of the weekend. The competition is being livestreamed on the Hungarian Functional Fitness Sports Federation YouTube channel.
As for next year, the 2025 iF3 World Championships are slated to be hosted by Lithuania. We will have to wait and see whether today’s turn of events changes that.
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