Latest news with #Chernukhin
Indian Express
2 days ago
- Sport
- Indian Express
Chance to test themselves against the best, money, fame, their prime sporting years: what Russian athletes are losing due to decade-long international ban
There's a 'Brit' at the Russian National Championships. Striking braids, the unmistakable blue-and-white vest and a mischievous smile, he belies the old stereotype of Russians being cold and aloof. As he prowls on the 100m starting line in a Great Britain uniform, Kirill Chernukhin gives the 2,000-odd spectators a reason to chuckle. The judges take him to one side and ask, 'Are you crazy?' They put a tape on the flag and the country's name before he steps on the track. 'But you can't tape over the truth,' Chernukhin tells the local media, laughing. 'The guys punished the 'Brit' anyway. More than 10 of us dominated the 'Englishman'.' The 'Englishman', to be sure, is Chernukhin himself. 'I started in British gear so that every domestic sprinter has a chance to get ahead of a Brit. I'm not in the best shape right now. I can't run fast. And I wanted the guys to feel this: bam! — they beat the Brit. Cool, right?' he says, according to It's a multi-layered joke, one that touches the many emotions athletes here are experiencing. The yearning to test themselves against the world's best and the helplessness of not being able to do so; the pain of wasting their prime years; the anger of losing fame and money; the waning motivation, the hope that soon they will be reinstated and can challenge the global stars again. Since November 2015, Russian track and field athletes have not been allowed to compete in international events. At first, when they were sanctioned for state-sponsored doping, they were at least given the chance to participate as neutrals — meaning no Russian flag or anthem at tournaments. But after the invasion of Ukraine, World Athletics imposed a blanket ban. They are now vigorously tested for doping, claims the Russian Athletics Federation. 'We have around 3,000 tests annually and less than 10 anti-doping violations per year,' says secretary general Alexander Djordjadze. When asked about the sanctions imposed because of the war, the athletes keep mum. 'Sport should be away from politics,' says former World Championship silver medallist triple jumper Ekaterina Koneva, repeating a common refrain. The isolation, though, has had a profound impact on established and fledgling careers alike. Take the case of Polina Knoroz. The pole vaulter, 26, crossed a height of 4.86m on a cold Sunday evening at the Central Stadium in Kazan in front of thousands of screaming fans and with the blockbuster song 'Matushka' — 'Motherland' — blaring from the speakers. Polina's effort is the second-best in the world this year, 5 cm behind USA's Amanda Pol, and the best in Europe. Yet, when the galaxy of stars descends upon Tokyo for the World Championship in a month, Polina will be at her home in St. Petersburg. When asked if she will miss going pole-to-pole with the best, she says with a smile: 'Maybe, they will miss me!' Like many others, Polina says she is driven by the desire to 'prove that I can perform no worse than the global stars'. 'I do not have the opportunity to perform on the international stage but in Russia, I can produce a world-class result,' she says. During the four-day event, Polina was one of the three Russians who met World Championship qualification standards. In women's 400m, Polina Tkalich ran 50.52 seconds, faster than the mark of 50.75s, while Fedor Ivanov — who left it all on the track, literally, and had to be taken off on a wheelchair — completed the men's 400m hurdles in 47.94 seconds, a Russian record (Worlds Qualification mark: 48.50s). Ivanov took up running in 2016, when he was 12 years old, in his hometown of Norilsk, north of the Arctic Circle. He belongs to a generation of Russians that has never seen their athletes compete in the country's colours since taking up the sport. 'I feel a bit disappointed that I am not having a chance to compete internationally,' he says. 'At the Diamond League, I would be among the winners, for sure.' He proudly wears the logo of his club CSKA, under the Russian Ministry of Defence. Dozens of athletes from the club have been barred from competing in any sport by the International Olympic Committee, which has mandated that athletes seeking to compete without Russia's flag must not belong to sports clubs linked to security agencies. Ivanov says he trains every day in the hope that one day, he will be allowed to represent his country. London Olympics silver medallist long jumper Yelena Sokolova calls it a 'tragedy' that an entire generation of Russian athletes don't know what it's like to compete for the flag. 'At the same time, they don't know what they have lost. But I understand and it's a tragedy,' she says. She isn't the only one whose career suffered after the sanctions came into effect. Sergey Shubhenkov, a former world champion hurdler, says that in the first year of restrictions and competing as a neutral, he wondered why he was being punished. 'It was weird,' he says. 'The attention on Russian athletes was a lot more. But by 2018, everything was okay, we got used to it and it was like nothing happened. I was doing everything I needed to. I was allowed to compete, win, earn money, stand on the podium…' Everything changed after the blanket ban following the Ukraine invasion. 'When the companies left Russia, a lot of sponsorships just ended. I lost most of my income, but am still doing fine. You can earn in Russia practising sports without foreign sponsorships, pretty much like any other occupation,' Shubhenkov says. A lawyer by qualification, Shubhenkov, now in the twilight of his career, says he wouldn't earn the same amount of money in 'three-four years of working' as he would in one year of sport. The 34-year-old has been delaying his retirement in the hope that the sanctions will be lifted and he can bid farewell after competing one last time on an international platform. Here, they secretly hope that Friday's summit between the presidents of Russia and the USA leads to a solution that will eventually lead to their reinstatement. Until that happens, they appeal. 'Sport unites,' says Polina. 'Don't forget us.' (The reporter was in Kazan on the invitation of the Russian Athletics Federation)
The Guardian
11-03-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Give back taxpayers' cash for failed ‘fun factory', Hastings MP tells Tory donor
The Conservative donor Lubov Chernukhin is facing calls to hand back £150,000 of taxpayer cash given to her company to help fund a 'fun factory' and amusement arcade in Hastings that closed after less than a year. Helena Dollimore, the Labour MP for Hastings and Rye, said the town now 'wants its money back' after the venture known as Owens failed, leaving a depressing boarded-up shopfront dominating the high street. She said Chernukhin, who recently donated £70,000 to the shadow foreign secretary, Priti Patel, should refund the money now that the project was in administration. Dollimore called on Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader, not to accept any more donations from Chernukhin unless the grant were returned. Chernukhin, a businesswoman who has given more than £2m to the Conservatives since 2014 and is married to a former Russian finance minister, co-founded the Owens entertainment centre in the East Sussex seaside town in October 2022. The centre received £150,000 from Boris Johnson's town deal funds after a tender process. At its launch, Chernukhin claimed the venture would help rejuvenate the town by bringing more than 45 jobs and lots of visitors to Hastings. It included several restaurants, a bowling alley, immersive experiences, virtual reality rides, an oddity museum and amusement arcade. Despite this and her £4m investment, the centre abruptly shut its doors in September 2023. Dollimore told the Commons on Monday that Hastings council was trying to recover the £150,000 grant given to Chernukhin's venture but that it had not so far been successful, and the company behind it was now in administration. 'The reason I am here speaking about this is that Owens has come to symbolise for our community much more than a mere eyesore,' she said. 'Did Ms Chernukhin, a millionaire owner, really need a top-up from the taxpayer to fund such a venture? Was that truly the best use of the money given to Hastings to improve our town? None of that makes any sense to my constituents. 'Owens closed shortly after opening, and the deserted, boarded-up building now dominates our town centre in Hastings. The staff were laid off with no notice, and many people who supplied the business and helped with the building work have said that they have not been paid for their work. The closure of Owens, which is now covered in wooden boarding, leaves a stain on our community.' Dollimore said that in the time the project had been closed, Chernukhin had donated more than £150,000 to the Conservatives. She added: 'Ms Chernukhin should donate the money she received from the taxpayer back to the people of Hastings. Used well, it could go a very long way to fixing our broken paving stones and bus shelters. Lubov Chernukhin, we want our money back. Until that money is repaid in full to our community, the Conservative party should not take a penny in donations from her.' Sign up to First Edition Our morning email breaks down the key stories of the day, telling you what's happening and why it matters after newsletter promotion A spokesperson for Chernukhin said: 'Mrs Chernukhin was not involved in the application process for the towns fund grant. Lubov was not a director at the time – she was appointed in February 2023 – and she was only informed of the grant just before the opening of the centre in October 2022. 'As a British citizen, Mrs Chernukhin is entitled to make donations to political parties as she sees fit. All her donations have been declared in accordance with the rules of the Electoral Commission, and derive from her own private wealth.' A Conservative party spokesperson said government policy was 'in no way dictated by party donations'. They added: 'Ms Lubov Chernukhin has lived in Britain for many years and is a British citizen, which gives her the democratic and legal right to donate to a political party. 'All donations to the Conservative party are received in good faith, after appropriate due diligence, from permissible sources. 'Donations are properly and transparently declared to the Electoral Commission, published by them, and comply fully with the law.'
