Russia pulls out of world youth athletics

Moscow, June 30: Russian track and field athletes will not participate in the IAAF World Youth Championships in Nairobi, Kenya this July due to security concerns, All-Russia Athletic Federation (ARAF) Vice President Yuri Borzakovsky has said.

On Thursday, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) approved the applications of nine Russians to compete as neutral athletes.

Among these athletes are Aksana Gataullina (pole vault), Ekaterina Gorshenina (race walk), Salavat Ilkaev (race walk), Elvira Khasanova (race walk), Sergey Kozhevnikov (race walk), Polina Miller (sprints), Varvara Nasibulina (sprints), Danila Tundykov (middle distance) and Valentina Ulyanova (high jump).

"Of course, we are very glad that the IAAF has approved nine more of our athletes as participants in the international competitions. However, only our young athletes have the right to go to Kenya, while coaches and the personnel don't have the permission to go there," Borzakovsky, who is also the chief coach of the Russian squad, was quoted as saying by Tass on Friday.

"As the chief coach of the team, I called against the trip of our children to this tournament due to security grounds," he added.

Earlier, the teams of the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Switzerland, Japan, South Korea and other countries refused to take part in the event.

The championship in Kenya, due to be held from July 12-16, will be the final such youth event in history. The IAAF had earlier said it was inadvisable to continue holding world youth championships due to the lack of prospects.