“It’s stupid to say that I have an American mentality.” The girl is from Russia – at the 2023 World Cup
Tatyana Postnikova August 18, 2023, 16:50 Moscow time
Elena Kulichenko will perform at the main tournament under the flag of Cyprus.
On Saturday, August 19, the 2023 World Championships in Athletics will begin in Budapest, Hungary. Unfortunately, there will be no athletes from Russia in the tournament. Despite this, our fans will definitely have someone to follow. For example, behind the Russian high jumper Elena Kulichenko, who now plays for Cyprus.
fateful transition
Elena Kulichenko played for the Russian national team a couple of years ago.
In 2017, it was shown for the first time at the international tournament – the European Youth Games. Then the Russian woman took silver, losing only to Yaroslav the Mighty, now one of the leaders in world athletics.
Who to watch out for during the 2023 World Cup:
Stories
The main stars of the 2023 World Athletics Championships. Who is worth following?
Then Kulichenko performed at several more tournaments, but already in the status of a neutral athlete, which was extremely difficult to achieve. True, he no longer reached such heights as at the European Youth Games. And the results in the competitions left much to be desired.
In the winter of 2021, the athlete was already thinking about ending her career, but the sport got another chance. Elena she entered the University of Georgia and then changed her sports citizenship to Cypriot. The transition was not easy. Despite the fact that Kulichenko had had a Cypriot passport since 2019, which she received from her thanks to her father, who was engaged in business on the island, the national federation forced her to comply with the necessary quarantine and spend the “transitional” season. in domestic tournaments.
Elena went through all these tests. The athlete herself explained her transition with problems with the All-Russian Athletics Federation (ARAF) and the associated difficulties in obtaining neutral status.
Elena Kulichenko
Photo: Jurij Kodrun/Getty Image
“This approach pays off”
The change of sports citizenship and studying at an American university had a magical effect on Kulichenko. At the beginning of 2022, Elena broke her personal record (1.82 m) and flew a solid 1.87 m, and in the 2022/2023 season she began to shine. This summer, the former Russian took bronze in the NCAA student league and then won the Cypriot championship with a personal best of 1.90 m.
A real triumph for 19-year-old Elena was the Junior European Championships. There she took the first tournament gold in the history of Cyprus. Kulichenko rose to 1.91 m. After the Universiade in Chengdu, the former Russian returned to 1.91 m and she replaced her medal collection with a silver award.
Kulichenko’s historic victory at the Eurocup:
Not our gold. How a Russian athlete became a European champion under the flag of Cyprus
Such an increase in the results of the former Russian athlete can be explained by the high level of sports training in American universities.
“I didn’t expect how big student sports are there. it’s true wow! Both the system and the attitude towards it. Another thing is that you have to plow to the maximum. When I was training for five hours, I thought: “Hey, nobody warned me that this was going to happen.” But seriously, this approach justifies itself and I like it, ”Kulichenko told Sports.ru.
Now Elena made her way to the World Championship! Although she has almost no opportunity to compete for a medal with the strongest athletes such as Yaroslava Moguchikh and Nikola Olislagers, jumping more than two meters, this is an important step in the girl’s career. So it will be very interesting to follow Kulichenko’s start. Especially considering that she doesn’t disavow ties to her homeland.
“I consider myself a Cypriot athlete. Because if not, I wouldn’t have it all. Yes, he would have! At the same time, I love Russia. I have a house and a family in Moscow. And it would be nonsense to say that my mentality is Cypriot or American,” Elena said in the summer of 2023.
It will be possible to follow Kulichenko’s performance on August 25. At 11:20 Moscow time qualification for the show jumping tournament begins.
