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SPORTS Tuesday 11 June 2019

In this Friday, Aug. 10, 2018 file photo, Russia’s Mariya Lasitskene
looks on in the women’s high jump final at the European Athletics
Championships at the Olympic stadium in Berlin, Germany.
Associated Press
Russian athlete

Lasitskene slams slow In this Saturday, May 25, 2019, file photo, United States women’s national soccer team head

pace of doping reform coach Jill Ellis smiles during a training session at Red Bull Arena in Harrison, N.J. Associated Press

By JAMES ELLINGWORTH barred from the 2016 Olym- Ellis downplays comments by
AP Sports Writer pics because of sanctions former U.S. goalkeeper Hope Solo
MOSCOW (AP) — The only against the Russian team.
Russian track athlete cur- She competes internation-
rently holding a world title ally under a neutral flag. By ANNE M. PETERSON
called on the country’s of- “I think that for the federa- AP Sports Writer
ficials and coaches in the tion it’s a bad signal, a bad REIMS, France (AP) — U.S. national team coach Jill Ellis has downplayed critical com-
sport to be replaced be- sign,” he said. ments made by former goalkeeper Hope Solo, who said the World Cup-winning coach
cause of the slow pace of “They don’t have that di- “cracks under pressure.”
anti-doping reforms. rect connection with the Ellis addressed the remarks Monday, a day before the defending champion U.S. team
High jumper Mariya Las- young guys, the young ath- opens World Cup play against Thailand, saying, “Comments are comments.”
itskene’s message — in a letes, and it’s unpleasant “For me, personally, I feel over the past five years I’ve made a lot of important decisions
country where top athletes information for the federa- and I have processes to make those decisions, and I own those processes,” Ellis said. “At
rarely speak out against of- tion. Of course, Dmitry Sh- this point, everything and every focus is about this group of players that are here and
ficials — came shortly after lyakhtin should meet with now. Pundits, out there, that’s part of it. And part of the message is always to make sure
Russia’s ban from interna- them and say what kind of that the focus is on the internal part of the game. And that’s where we are.”
tional athletics was pro- work is being done ... and Solo, who is working for the BBC during the tournament and has been known to make
longed on Sunday. build complete support incendiary comments, knocked Ellis on a podcast where she said the coach is “not the
“I hope that the people from our clean athletes, leader I wish her to be.”
involved in this never-end- the guys representing our “She relies heavily on her assistant coaches. She cracks under the pressure quite a bit,”
ing disgrace still have the country.” Solo said on the podcast. “But often that doesn’t matter because the quality of the
courage to leave. By them- Sunday’s IAAF decision left players on the U.S. team is superb. It doesn’t matter who is coaching us because we will
selves. And don’t think Russia with little over three find a way to win. The United States knows how to find a way to win in spite of who the
I’m only talking about the months to avoid compet- coach is.”
management,” Lasitskene ing under a neutral flag at Solo made 202 appearances with the national team with 153 wins and an international-
wrote on Instagram. the world championships record 102 shutouts. She allowed just three goals in seven games and had five shutouts
“It’s also about the current in Qatar. After Russia was during the team’s 2015 World Cup championship run under Ellis.
coaches who are still sure barred from international Her tenure with the national team ended after the Americans were ousted by Sweden
that you can’t win without athletics in 2015 because in the quarterfinals during the 2016 Rio Olympics. Afterward, Solo called the Swedes
doping. They’re long over- of widespread doping, cowards for bunkering on defense. The blowback was immediate, and U.S. Soccer sus-
due for retirement. A new the country’s competitors pended Solo and terminated her contract.
generation of our athletes participated at the 2017 The federation maintained the decision was based on a culmination of events. Solo
must grow up with a differ- worlds as neutral athletes. was suspended for 30 days in early 2015 when she and husband Jerramy Stevens were
ent philosophy, and for any The head of the IAAF’s pulled over in a U.S. Soccer-owned van, and Stevens was charged with DUI.
athlete, it’s the coach who Russia task force, Rune She was also benched after publicly questioning coach Greg Ryan’s decision to start
provides that.” Andersen, said there was Briana Scurry against Brazil during the 2007 World Cup, comments that many saw as a
Lasitskene’s statement evidence the country slight against Scurry. There was also an off-field altercation with family members in 2014,
echoed Russian Anti-Dop- was “backsliding” on anti- although charges in that case were dismissed.
ing Agency CEO Yuri Ga- doping reforms. He cited Current goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher said she hadn’t heard the podcast.
nus, who said a month ago evidence that banned “I haven’t been on social media since we left New York, so I’m not really sure what’s
the Russian Athletics Feder- coaches have contin- going on, to be honest,” Naeher said.
ation was in “a world of illu- ued to work with athletes, Naeher can’t escape comparisons to Solo, who went to three World Cups and won the
sion” and needed a purge and an ongoing investi- Golden Glove for best goalkeeper in Germany in 2011 and in Canada in 2015.
of top officials. Ganus and gation into whether Rus- “Obviously, she has an incredible legacy,” Naeher said. “She was a great player for this
federation president Dmitry sian officials provided fake team and she was a great goalkeeper. She represented this team for a very long time
Shlyakhtin held talks with medical documentation at a high level and she was one of the best goalkeepers in the world for a long time,”
Sports Minister Pavel Kolob- to give high jumper Danil Naeher said. “I have a lot of respect for the career that she had.”
kov on Monday. Lysenko an alibi for failing Midfielder Julie Ertz said the team is in its World Cup “bubble,” where players shut out
Lasitskene won world titles to notify drug testers of his distractions.
in 2015 and 2017, but was whereabouts.q “Anything you feel like doesn’t keep you focused, we just try to eliminate it,” Ertz said.q