It was a busy few weeks leading up to the International Functional Fitness Federation (iF3) “Super Worlds” World Championship in Budapest, Hungary.
- More than 800 athletes were scheduled to represent just under 40 countries.
Athletes were packing bags, arranging accommodations, fitting in their final training sessions, and preparing to compete in the annual competition.
Because this year’s World Championship was a “Super Worlds,” all the divisions were scheduled to compete under one roof on one weekend. This included all the age-group divisions, teams, and the “Open” or “Senior” category, which many competitions label as “Elite Individuals.”
In the days before the competition, the Lithuanian team began to notice violations by the iF3 regarding the “neutral flag policy.” This policy allows athletes with a Russian or Belarusian passport to compete in sporting events only under a neutral flag, with the demarcation of “AIN” or Independent Neutral Athletes.
- As rosters were being released electronically and “Fitcard” graphics were posted on social media, the Russian flag was displayed, as well as the country designation.
This gave the Lithuanian team pause, and concern grew as to whether or not these violations would be addressed and remedied.
Some Background
In 2022, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) declared that Russia had breached the Olympic charter, violating the Olympic truce by initiating a war during a period of peace during the initial Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The IOC chose to ban Russia as a nation and Russian athletes from competition.
- In 2023, the IOC changed its recommendation, allowing athletes with Russian passports to compete as “neutral.”
The iF3, having followed these recommendations leading up to 2023, altered their allowances and permitted athletes with Russian passports to return to competition after voting with the National Functional Fitness Federations in June 2023.
Last season, no athletes with Russian passports competed due to travel complications. However, many returned to the World Championship this year.
Leading up to the event, correspondence between these athletes and the iF3 laid out the rules that would allow them to compete under a neutral flag.
- These rules included the prohibition of the Russian flag, national anthem, and the word “Russia” or any insignia on their jerseys or clothes. They would not be announced as “Russian athletes” at the competition.
Gretchen Kittelberger, iF3 President, shared that in preparation for the event, the iF3 committee went to great lengths to uphold the “neutral flag policy,” taking an abundance of caution to keep the competition apolitical.
Before the competition and the award ceremonies, the iF3 committee reviewed the AIN athletes’ clothing and the song that was chosen in place of the Russian national anthem.
- “We sat down.. before the ceremony and said, ‘ok, can we just look and make sure everybody is doing the right thing,’ Kittelberger said. We ended up changing the song from what was originally agreed upon because the original song was written by a Russian composer. We just wanted to be exceptionally careful and pick something…. Super neutral.”
The Competition Weekend
Check-in for all athletes took place on Thursday night, December 12. At that time, name placards and lanyards were passed out to competing athletes, with the country “Russia” mistakenly printed on the athletes’ items who were competing as “Independent Neutral Athletes.”
- By the time the iF3 organizers had been made aware of the mistake, these items had already been dispersed. Additionally, during opening ceremonies, the announcers mentioned that certain athletes were competing for the country of “Russia.”
Kittelberger told us that when she arrived in Budapest, she realized some oversights hadn’t trickled down in communication from committee meetings. This included the printing of the name cards, the lanyards, the virtual graphics, and the live announcement notes.
Lithuania Responds
On Friday, the first day of competition, Körnelija Düdaitė, an athlete from Lithuania, was seen wearing a shirt with the words “Make Russia Small Again,” an act that the iF3 committee saw as a violation of the rules of good sportsmanship.
- The iF3 reached out to the Lithuanian Functional Fitness Federation, which said that Düdaitė would not be competing past the first day. Regardless, Düdaitė was asked via email to either remove the shirt or leave the premises.
Kittelberger shared with us that regardless of the shirt, Düdaitė was not disqualified from the competition. Had she decided to remove the shirt, she would have been allowed to compete.
After communication back and forth between iF3 organizers and the Lithuanian Functional Fitness Federation, Düdaitė chose to continue to wear the shirt, the Lithuanian Team chose to stand with Düdaitė, and as a team, they withdrew from the competition by the end of the day on Friday.
They cited negligence on the part of the iF3 organizing committee to withhold the “neutral flag” policy as their reason.
In an Instagram post they shared on Friday, the Lithuanian Functional Fitness Federation stated:
- “Athletes were allowed to demonstrate the national symbols of the aggressor state during the competition — it was clearly visible in the live broadcast as well as the name of this country was mentioned continuously.”
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Igor Kuznecov, president of the Lithuanian Functional Fitness Federation, told Morning Chalk Up in an interview that this decision to withdraw was not made lightly and that they left the building on Friday evening with heavy hearts.
He explained that 30 competitors had traveled to Budapest to represent Lithuania — 12 of them were youth athletes.
- Every single one of them individually made the decision to withdraw because, as he explained, “we are human first, athletes second.”
Kuznekov went on to explain that a large drive for the iF3 is to be recognized by the Olympics with the hope that Functional Fitness becomes an Olympic sport.
In order to do this, the committees and federations involved must abide by strict rules that align with those of the IOC — the “neutral flag policy” being one of them.
iF3 Takes Responsibility
On Friday evening, the iF3 shared an Instagram post announcing the withdrawal of the Lithuanian team, taking ownership and apologizing for the mistakes that it made.
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Kittelberger was sympathetic to the Lithuanian team’s decision to withdraw, although, as was stated in the Instagram post, the iF3 committee was saddened to see 30 athletes forego their competition weekend.
She and the iF3 committee believe strongly in providing an opportunity for athletes to compete against one another in a neutral space.
- Kittelberger: “Sports are supposed to be apolitical. We want people to come here and show what you can do, your sporting ability, and nothing else. There are very few places in the world where you can go and come out onto the field, and it comes down to my hard work and my dedication and performance. I come out here and it’s me and my competitors and we should all be equal, no matter what when we step out onto the floor.
“This is very important to us as an organization,” she concluded, “and also making sure this is a safe space for everybody.”
Looking Ahead
In July 2024, the Masters European Championship was held in Lithuania, and in 2025, the iF3 World Championship is scheduled to be held there as well.
At this time, the Lithuanian Functional Fitness Federation does not intend to withdraw its commitment to hosting the competition. It will meet with government officials and athletes to determine which steps will be made moving forward.
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Credit: @lithuanianfunctionalfitness / Instagram
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