Russian champion pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva spoke out against homosexuality Thursday at the 2013 World Track and Field Championships in Moscow. After two fellow athletes painted their fingernails rainbow colors to protest the new anti-gay law in Russia, Isinbayeva condemned them in front of her home crowd.
“If we allow people to promote and do all this stuff on the street, we are very afraid about our nation because we consider ourselves like normal, standard people,” Isinbayeva said in English. “We just live with boys with woman, woman with boys.
“Everything must be fine. It comes from history. We never had any problems, these problems in Russia, and we don’t want to have any in the future.”
Two Swedish athletes competed in the track meet with their fingernails painted in rainbow colors at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow.
One of the Swedish athletes, Emma Green Tregaro, took to social media by posting a picture of her nails on Instagram, saying “Nails painted in the colors of the rainbow.” Then after came the hashtags, #pride and #moscow2013.
“The first thing that happened when I came to Moscow and pulled my curtains aside was that I saw the rainbow and that felt a little ironic,” Green Tregaro said in a video posted on the website of Swedish newspaper Expressen. “Then I had a suggestion from a friend on Instagram that maybe I could paint my nails in the colors of the rainbow and that felt like a simple, small thing that maybe could trigger some thoughts.”
The other Swedish athlete to paint her nails in the rainbow colors in protest, was sprinter Moa Hjelmer, who showcased her fingers in the heats of the 200 meters.
Isinbayeva said the two were disrespectful to Russia and the citizens of Russia.
“It’s unrespectful to our country. It’s unrespectful to our citizens, because we are Russians. Maybe we are different from European people and other people from different lands,” Isinbayeva told reporters. “We have our home and everyone has to respect (it). When we arrive to different countries, we try to follow their rules.”
Isinbayeva, who won her third world title Tuesday in front of her home crowd, has set 28 world records. She has also won seven major titles in her career, including gold medals at the 2004 and 2008 Olympics.
