Lasitskene to host series of high jump tournaments, starts could be in UAE and Qatar

Olympic champion Maria Lasitskene announced the creation of the international high jump tournaments “New Height”, which can be held in the United Arab Emirates and Qatar, according to the materials provided to by the All-Russian Athletics Federation (ARAF).

The 12 best jumpers (6 women and 6 men each) will perform on August 3 in Moscow at the amphitheater of the Salyut Heraklion sports complex, and on August 31 the competition will take place in Prokhladny (Kabardino-Balkarian Republic). In addition to Lasitskene, the series will bring together: indoor world champion Danil Lysenko, junior world champion Natalya Spiridonova, medalists of the world and European championships, winners of the national championships Maria Kochanova, Ilya Ivanyuk, Kristina Koroleva, Karina Demik.

— We decided that there could never be too many good tournaments and found sponsors for our series. This year we will start with two competitions – in Moscow and Prokhladny, and only in high jump. But we hope that next season there will be more cities and species. We will jump on the same platform that was used in the “Battle of the Sexes”, because we thought that a year of rest was too much for her. But in New Heights, boys and girls will still compete separately.

The tournament in my hometown of Prokhladny will be a special event in my career. There I competed only as a child and in juniors. I hope that the whole city will gather in the stands and fans of the Kabardino-Balkarian Republic as a whole will come. I would like to give my compatriots a real holiday, because they supported me for many years, but in my adult career they did not see my jumps live. In addition, the arrival of all Russian star high-altitude athletes will be a good motivation for children studying at our Olympic reserve school, which bears my name, “said Lasitskene.

— Next year we plan to expand the geography of the series and want to hold tournaments in places where our sport has not been represented for a long time. Everyone will benefit from this: both athletes who need new emotions and athletics itself. We have already visited Nizhny Novgorod, explored interesting places and are negotiating with other Russian cities. I will say more, interest in our launches has also been expressed abroad – in Dubai and Doha. The main task is to get closer to the fans, and for this we need to go beyond the stadiums and the framework of purely sports competitions. Therefore, we will have autograph sessions, communication with young athletes, competitions in other sports, fashion shows, special photo zones, live music, a DJ and much more. The winners of the tournament will earn 300,000 rubles. “It is also important that absolutely all our participants receive cash prizes, and their level depends on the final position. In addition, we have written various bonuses that we will announce in addition, so as not to put all the cards on the table at once,” said tournament director Mikhail Butov.

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