Russia's Isinbayeva announces retirement, says God will judge IAAF

RIO DE JANEIRO — Double Olympic pole vault champion Yelena Isinbayeva announced her retirement Friday at a combative news conference where she said God would be the judge of whether athletics' governing body was right to exclude Russia from the Rio Games. "Today in Rio on August 19, 2016, Yelena Isinbayeva is finishing her professional career, this is my statement," she told reporters. "I'm very happy that I fulfilled my dreams, I won all possible medals, all possible titles, I won the trust and love of all the fans in the world." On the decision by the IAAF athletics federation to ban Russia's track and field team in the light of an independent report on state-sponsored doping, she said: "I will forgive them and God will be their judge." Isinbayeva was Thursday elected onto the International Olympic Committee's athletes commission despite being excluded with the Russian team from taking part in the Rio Games. Isinbayeva, 34, was unable to defend her title after the Russian squad was hit with a blanket ban by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) over a state-sponsored doping scandal which rocked track and field. In her manifesto for the election, Isinbayeva, one of the poster girls of the sport, claimed she wanted to be a "bridge" between the IOC and the athletes. But she is also angry. "Of course I am upset that I am not here as a competitor, but I need to be here," TASS news agency quoted her as telling journalists Thursday when she arrived in Rio for the election. "I will never agree with the fact that they banned me, I will never forgive that. "What can I say to whoever will be the champion? They will be second by default." Russian sports authorities insisted that Isinbayeva's election was a moral victory for the country. Isinbayeva was one of four new members on the commission elected by fellow athletes Thursday to stand for a total of eight years. The others were German fencer Britta Heidemann, South Korean table tennis player Ryu Seug-min and swimmer Daniel Gyurta from Hungary. Heidemann was elected onto the commission with 1,603 votes, followed by Ryu with 1,544, Gyurta with 1,469 votes and Isinbayeva with 1,365. A total of 5,185 athletes at the Olympic Village voted, said the IOC. — Agencies