In the Murmansk region, the level of a Russian biathlete who fled to Lithuania was assessed

President of the Biathlon Federation of the Murmansk region Mikhail Voronkov commented on the refusal of biathlete Lidia Zhurauskaite from Russian citizenship.

On Thursday, July 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin granted the application of a 23-year-old athlete who played for the Murmansk region to renounce Russian citizenship. Now Zhurauskaite will play for Lithuania.

— We did not make any releases until official confirmation. Today it became known that she was signed a change of citizenship, and we were waiting for this moment. As for the level of the athlete, she is a master of sports in biathlon, but there were no great achievements at the level of Russia. Of course, in Lithuania she has more chances to perform at the same Olympics, because the competition is lower. I think life will show what she can achieve. Over the past two seasons, she practically did not compete in Russia, so it is difficult to assess her level.

The fact is that for the last two years she has already trained in Lithuania. Lydia really has Lithuanian roots through her grandfather. But the first reason is that the competition there is lower. In principle, I can’t say anything special about her, ”Match TV quotes Voronkov.