It became known that on July 22, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree by biathlete Lidia Zhurauskaite on the renunciation of Russian citizenship. The relevant document appeared on the legal information portal.
The document says “To fulfill the application for withdrawal of citizenship of the Russian Federation: Zhurauskaite Lidia Mikhailovna, born on April 9, 1999 in Murmansk”.
The 22-year-old athlete never made it to the Russian national team in his career. Zhurauskaite also did not have a podium finish in the junior events, but in the context of recent talks about changing the sports citizenship of Russian athletes, this transition could result in a much larger number of transfers from Russia to other countries.
However, Zhurauskaite made the decision to move to the Lithuanian national team even before the Russian Biathlon Union (RBU) refused to compete in the World Cup, where the International Biathlon Union (IBU) allowed Russians as neutral athletes.
In 2021, the head of the Lithuanian Biathlon Federation, Arunas Daugirdas, reported that the biathlete managed to obtain the citizenship of the Baltic country. The athlete was just waiting for a document from Russia that showed that he was deprived of his native citizenship.
“It’s no secret that he received Lithuanian citizenship through the restoration program – his great-grandfather was Lithuanian. During the year, all archival documents were collected with the help of the federation. We made the decision to grant Lithuanian citizenship, now we are waiting for the only document from Russia on the denial of citizenship of this country, ”the statement said.
Zharauskaite stated that his main goal is to perform at the Olympic Games in Italy, which will be held in 2026.
“It is very important to me that they notice me and give me such an opportunity. [выступать за Литву]. Here I see the federation president and his coaches trying to make me feel as comfortable as possible. I am very grateful to Lithuania,” Žurauskaite said in an interview with LRT.
Former biathlete coach Alexander Kosorygin said in October last year that many athletes from Murmansk have applied to change their sports citizenship due to the lack of infrastructure in the region and the ongoing reconstruction and construction of new sports facilities.
It must be said that Lydia made a decision. [о переходе в сборную Литвы] by himself. Biathlon is not a mass sport, everyone knows each other here, discussions and considerations have been going on for both sides for over a year.
Murmansk athletes in general “change their fate” by moving to other regions or countries in the immediate vicinity. You need money to prepare, and there is not enough money for everyone in Murmansk. For example, the constant rebuilding of the “Valley of Comfort” (sports complex) has been going on for 15 years and is still unfinished. According to TASS, the poor girl “raised on a construction site” and did not want to “die” there, Kosorygin said.
Two-time Olympic champion Dmitry Vasiliev noted that the transfer of Zhurauskaite to the Lithuanian team will not adversely affect the possibility of completing the Russian national team before next season.
“I know him. He promised, but so far the results are not impressive. I don’t think it’s a significant loss for us. Moreover, we have enough athletes to bring out. They have good potential but unfortunately they are still in the shadows.
There are so many talented girls and guys you can work with and push them to the highest level. Therefore, I do not think that the departure of Zhurauskaite will greatly affect the composition of the national team, ”SE” quotes Vasiliev.
Four-time Olympic champion Alexander Tikhonov said in an interview with a socialbites.ca correspondent that such a step from Zhurauskaite will help improve relations between the countries.
“I don’t see anything special in that. There’s nothing wrong with the fact that our athletes are going to compete for Lithuania – it will only improve our relationships. At least through sports. Why? Our athletes compete for both the USA and Canada. There’s nothing wrong with that.
And the political situation – it will improve. Without Russia, the importance of sports competitions is lost. Everything will fall into place, I have no doubt about it. “We have always been in favor of peace agreements,” he said.