Lithuanian athlete withdraws from World Championship over T-shirt with "Make Russia small again" inscription – media

Körnelija Düdaitė, the Lithuanian national team representative in functional sports, has decided to withdraw from the World Championship currently taking place in Budapest (Hungary) due to a T-shirt with the inscription "Make Russia small again".

Source: Champion, a sports news platform within Ukrainska Pravda’s holding company, with reference to 15min.lt

Details: Düdaitė aimed to remind others about Russian aggression in Ukraine. The Lithuanian champion noted that there was a large team of representatives from Russia among the approximately 800 athletes participating in the competition.

She entered the hall holding a Ukrainian flag, with words of support for the country defending itself from Russia, "Fight for your beliefs, just as Ukraine fights for its freedom".

Quote from Düdaitė: "This is the first time that Russian athletes have been allowed to participate. The International Federation approved their participation. I disagree with this and the only way to express my position is to show it. Unfortunately, not everyone likes this. I mean not only foreigners but also people from my country."

More details: Initially, the International Functional Fitness Federation (IF3) issued her a warning. Later, the organisers stated that the entire Lithuanian team would be disqualified if she did not leave the championship.

Düdaitė decided to withdraw from the competition. She posted a photo on social media showing herself wearing the aforementioned T-shirt.

"They said that my participation offends the Russians. I hope that Ukraine wins and truly offends them," she wrote.

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