Belarusian gold medalist walks off podium after national anthem error

Violetta Skvortsova’s patriotism is getting praise in her native Belarus after a horrific mistake during the medal ceremony for the women’s triple jump caused her to walk off the field.

Skvortsova won gold in the women’s triple jump at the U20 European Track and Field Championships in Italy when she took the podium, ready to hear her nation’s anthem and instead got met with something else.

The crew in the stadium began playing the anthem for Bosnia and Herzegovina by mistake. These kinds of flubs have happened in the past and athletes have either laughed, or waited for the music to be corrected — but Skvortsova wasn’t going to stand there and celebrate her win with the wrong music. So she left.

The athlete explained her decision following the ceremony, which Nine News in Australia detailed.

"I waited until our flag went up, and after I came down from the pedestal," Skvortsova told the Belarus track and field federation. “I understand that the procedure violates the awards ceremony and may be followed by sanctions, but in that moment, I was very uncomfortable, that anthem is not my country for which I am speaking. After all, we spend so much effort to this moment.

"I am a patriot of this country. I was born in Belarus, which is very beautiful. My love for it cannot be expressed in words."

This is sticking to your guns in an incredibly tough situation. Event organizers offered to set up a second medal ceremony to fix the mistake, and it’s unclear if Skvortsova took them up on her offer.