VIENNA (AP) — Olympic snowboard champion Julia Dujmovits pulled out of a World Cup event in the central Turkish city of Kayseri on Saturday because of security concerns.
The Austrian snowboarder said Wednesday she doesn’t feel safe traveling to a city where 13 people were killed in a suicide car bomb attack on a public bus less than three months ago.
“Sorry, I’ve not become a snowboarder to compete under police protection and guarded by sharpshooters,” Dujmovits wrote on her website, adding that Turkey is “a country which, due to its current political situation, just can’t guarantee safety.