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Lasitskene is Russia's only track and field
athlete currently holding a world title and is unbeaten
internationally for more than a year. She is gearing up to
defend her 2017 title -- won as a neutral athlete -- at the
World Athletics Championships in Doha next month.
"The situation bothers me because I don't see any movement,"
Lasitskene told Reuters in an interview, adding that some
officials at the federation had not shown "a desire to change."
"It gives the impression that we are trying to hang on, that we
will be cleared and then just go on like before. We need to
understand that things have to change drastically."
The 26-year-old, whose personal best of 2.06 meters is three
centimeters off the world record, finds herself at the pinnacle
of her sport at a time of turmoil in Russian athletics.
The country's federation has been suspended since a 2015 World
Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) report containing evidence of mass
doping in the sport.
Russian authorities have denied their doping program was
state-sponsored but have accepted that senior officials were
involved in providing banned substances to athletes, interfering
with anti-doping procedures or covering up positive tests.
Efforts to have the federation reinstated have been hindered by
reports of mismanagement and doping violations.
The IAAF, the international body governing athletics, extended
Russia's suspension in June and said a Reuters report that
showed banned Russian coaches were still working with athletes
would be investigated.
The IAAF Council will discuss the status of the federation on
Sept. 23, just days before the start of the world championships.
Some Russians with no doping history, including Lasitskene, have
been cleared to compete internationally as neutrals.
Lasitskene said she did not think the federation would be
reinstated into world athletics in time for Doha.
"If there is still a white flag next to my name, then their
reinstatement efforts are not good enough," she said, referring
to the flag appearing in competition results instead of the
Russian tricolor.
CLEAN UP
In recent months Russian sports authorities have pressed for the
federation's reinstatement, creating working groups to spearhead
the effort. This followed a call by the head of the country's
anti-doping agency for the federation's leadership to step down.
Lasitskene said she did not understand why there was a sense of
urgency only now to institute reforms four years into the
scandal.
"Cleaning up your own house would help, to put order in the
federation, the national team," she said. "That should have been
done long ago."
In addition to banned coaches still working with athletes, the
federation also faces a probe into allegations that some of its
representatives forged documents in a doping case.
Lasitskene said resources invested into reinstatement efforts
had shifted the federation's focus away from the grassroots and
that had hurt the sport in the country.
"Those who are currently at the federation cannot handle their
main task: making athletics in Russia better," she said, citing
low attendance, infrequent broadcasts and a decline in interest
in the sport.
The Russian athletics federation did not immediately reply to a
request for comment.
"It is an awful situation, but it is in our power to change it,"
Lasitskene said of the suspension.
(Editing by Peter Rutherford)
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