Lithuanian sports masters have refused to share the awards podium with Russian representatives at the 2025 Summer World Masters Games in Taiwan, reports 15min.lt.
Around 25,000 sports masters are taking part in the games in Taipei, on May 17 through 30, and Russian representatives have also been allowed to compete.
“Our unfriendly neighbours, the Russians, were also present, and they competed under their flag,” swimmer Lina Belinienė told 15min.lt. “We had to compete against them in the same relay event. We decided not to share the podium with them, we chose to come separately and to be awarded separately.”
She added that the Russian representatives wanted to take photos together but the Lithuanian athletes refused.
Russian teams have been excluded from most international competitions in various sports since Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
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