Elena Kulichenko, a former Russian athlete representing Cyprus, spoke about her attitude towards large-scale citizenship change by domestic athletes. Transmits words “Match TV”.
“Cypriots strongly support me, this is important and gratifying to me. They gave interviews to their newspaper. They thank me on behalf of the island, they are proud of me.
How do I feel about mass citizenship change? I consider myself Russian, stupid to deny, I speak for Cyprus. It is everyone’s choice for whom to play. It is difficult to comment in this situation, I do not want to get involved in politics,” he said.
On August 8, Kulichenko won the silver medal in the high jump. It showed a result of 1.91 m. This medal was fifth for Cyprus at the Universiade held in Chengdu, China.
In 2021, Kulichenko decided to change his sports citizenship to Cypriot. He lives and studies in the USA. Thanks to his father, a businessman, he managed to get Cypriot citizenship, as he invested more than 2 million euros in investments.
He won the 2023 European Athletics Junior Championships held in Espoo, Finland on 17 July. This is the first gold medal in the history of Cyprus.
former russian football player refused From his offer to play for the Serbian national team.