Russian figure skaters Morozov and Eremenko wanted to compete for the French team
Russian ice dancing skaters Annabel Morozov and Igor Eremenko wanted to change their sports citizenship. For six months, the duo considered the option of joining the French national team. According to a RIA Novosti source, the couple has already left Russia and flew to the United States.
It is noted that Morozov and Eremenko will also change their coaching staff. The skaters left Angelika Krylova’s group and will train under the guidance of their partner’s father, coach and choreographer Nikolai Morozov.
The skaters themselves have not yet commented on the change of citizenship.
Russia supported the couple’s decision to change the national team
Coach Alexander Zhulin told Match TV that Russia now has enough good dance couples even without the duet of Morozov and Eremenko.
And this way, this duet will have a chance to perform at least somewhere – at the European and World Championships. Hello, well done
Honored Coach of the USSR Tatyana Tarasova called the dance couple’s desire to perform for France logical. According to her, the skaters should have changed their citizenship a long time ago.
Morozov and Eremenko became a couple in February 2023
In the 2023/2024 season, the couple did not fully take part in any tournament. At the stage of the Russian Grand Prix in Krasnoyarsk, Morozov collided with Elizaveta Shanaeva during the skate and received a cut in her leg with a skate. The athletes were able to show a rhythm dance, but withdrew from the free program.
The duet of Morozov and Eremenko was formed in the winter of 2023 after the figure skater’s pair with David Narizhny broke up. Previously, she also performed with Andrei Bagin, with whom she became the winner and prize-winner of the Russian Cup final.
Eremenko skated with Sofia Shevchenko until 2022. Together they won the Junior Grand Prix final and won bronze at the Junior World Championships.
Previously, several more Russian figure skaters changed their sports citizenship
In May 2023, Diana Davis and Gleb Smolkin changed their citizenship. The dancing couple now represents the Georgian national team.
The transition of the daughter of figure skating coach Eteri Tutberidze and the son of actor Boris Smolkin caused a wide resonance
The Executive Committee of the Russian Figure Skating Federation approved the change of citizenship, noting that no money was spent on preparing the couple. At the same time, another athlete, Dario Chirisano, was denied entry into the Czech national team because of the funds invested in him.
Previously, several more Russian skaters changed teams. Anastasia Gubanova won the 2023 European Championship under the Georgian flag. Vladimir Samoilov, who studied with Tutberidze and Evgeni Plushenko, plays for Poland. Russian vice-champion in women’s singles skating among juniors Sofya Samodelkina, who declared her desire to represent Kazakhstan, received permission to take part in the country’s championship.
In March 2022, the International Skating Union banned Russians and Belarusians from participating in competitions under its auspices.
Source: Lenta
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