Lithuanian Athlete Banned From Competing in Hungary for Anti-Russian Shirt

Lithuanian athlete Kornelija Dūdaitė was barred from competing in the Functional Fitness World Championship in Budapest, Hungary on December 13 due to an anti-Russian slogan on her shirt, “make russia small again.“

This was reported by the LRT news network.

The Russian athletes were allowed to compete in the Functional Fitness World Championship under neutral status. According to Barbell Spin, on the day of the competition, “Russia was mistakenly included” on the athlete's name cards. “On top of this, announcers referred to these athletes as ‘Russian athletes’”.

“I had this T-shirt, the same one that the Ukrainian president wore, and I thought that if it was necessary to show our civic position, I would show it. When we arrived in Hungary, congratulations from the organizers themselves appeared on social media, they congratulated the Russians, expressing how happy they were with their participation. It seemed wrong to me. I don't think that an aggressor country can be congratulated anywhere at all,“ Dūdaitė said.

According to Dūdaitė, the organizers offered her the chance to continue competing if she took off the shirt and deleted any photos of it. However, Kornelija stood her ground.

“This shirt clearly shows which country I support. If Russians are allowed to wear shirts with their country's name, why can't someone wear one with Ukraine's name? The reason is simple: Ukrainian athletes aren't here—they can't be, because they're on the frontlines. What are we even talking about?” stated Dūdaitė.

The Lithuanian athlete added that the rules did not apply to the Russians, even though they were supposed to be neutral athletes here, meaning their country's name and colors could not be used.

“We took photos of Russian athletes, and their shirts clearly display 'Russia.' All their accreditations are issued under Russia. Even the event commentators, when announcing the athletes, mention that they are from Russia. On the other hand, it was said that my shirt offended them. I then asked, how can neutral athletes be offended? After all, officially, Russia isn’t even participating in this competition. I never got an answer,” Dudaitė added.

Following her decision, the entire Lithuanian team withdrew from the competition in protest over the organizers’ failure to enforce neutrality rules.

In May 2024, Matvii Bidnyi, the Head of the Ministry of Youth and Sports, reported that over 450 Ukrainian athletes had been killed since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.