British heptathlete Louise Hazel tells anti-gay Russian pole vaulter: ‘There’s no place for homophobia in sport’

British heptathlete Louise Hazel has criticised Russian pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva after she spoke out in support of Russia’s anti-gay laws.

The 25-year-old London born Commonwealth Games gold medal winner tweeted: “Yelena Isinbayeva’s ‘homophobic’ comments have no place in our sport! This is the 21st century! I say bring back Feofanova! #Athletics.

“Do you agree that as an Ambassador for the Youth Olympic Games the International Olympic Committee need to discipline Isinbayeva in light of her recent comments?!

“Thank you all for your comments and opinions… Lets hope that the IOC take action, it’s a shame for this to overshadow the championships!”

On Thursday 31-year-old Isinbayeva defended Russia’s anti-gay laws and told reporters: “We never had these problems in Russia and we don’t want to have any in the future.”

Criticising Swedish athlete Emma Green Tregaro for painting her nails in the colour of the rainbow at this week’s Moscow World Athletics Championships, Isinbayeva said: “It’s unrespectful [sic] to our country, it’s unrespectful [sic] to our citizens, because we are Russians, Maybe we are different from European people and other people from different lands.”

She stated: “If we allow [them] 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.”

• Dec 01 2023

16 TV stars you grew up watching who later came out as LGBTQ+