Long jumper Klishina glad to just focus on competition

Darya Klishina, the Russian long jumper who competed at the London world championships as a neutral athlete autorised by the IAAF world governing body, said she was happy to focus only on the competition.

Klishina on Friday improved her season's best four times en-route to winning a silver medal in seven meters, behind American Olympic and world champion Brittney Reese who collected her fourth world title just two centimeters in advantage, reports Xinhua news agency.

The 26-year-old Russian was happy with her first global medal.

"I'm really glad and I'm really happy. This is my first medal from a world championships, and, for me, it's my most important result. I didn't jump seven meters for six years and I just missed those longer jumps," said Klishina who was among 19 athletes who are competing in London as Authorised Neutral Athletes as the IAAF Doping Review Board considered them to have met the exceptional eligibility criteria to compete in international competition.

In last year's Rio Olympics, Klishina became the only Russian to compete in athletics as the entire Russian athletics team were banned amid raging doping controversies.

Klishina was given the greenlight to compete as her drugs-testing record was established in the United States, where she is based, rather than in Russia. She finished 9th in Rio.

One year after that rough journey to Rio, Klishina could focus on competition.

"I was waiting many years (for 7m). I wanted to show this result in an Olympic Games, but I did not have a chance with the whole situation around me. Now it was the right time, at a world championships, to jump this.

"I was enjoying this championships and it was without any nerves -- for the first time in my life. It was good for me and I could be focused on just my result," she said.

--IANS

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