The International Union (ISU) responded to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It has banned Russian and Belarusian skaters from participating in the World Championships, which will be held in Montpellier, France, on March 21-27.
This is a very painful sport-related sanction for Russia. Russians love figure skating, they have dominated this sport discipline for years. At the recent Winter Games in Beijing, they won, among others, gold among soloists (Anna Szczerbakowa) and gold in the team competition.
The strongest blow to Russian sports
No wonder the Russian media are resentful. – The world championship without the participation of Russian skaters is at best a second category competition – we read on the portal Sport-express.ru. The Russians point out that their absence is a serious loss for figure skating. At the previous world championships, they won three of the four gold medals.
Sports.ru is mocking the upcoming World Cup. – There will be no representation of Russia at the World Cup, but our people will still perform under the flags of Poland, Georgia and the USA. Why and who will watch it? – there are questions in the article in which Ekaterina Kurakowa was placed in the main photo. This is a 20-year-old skater born in Moscow, but representing Poland.
Kurakowa recently published a post against the war. – I want to write a post about love and friendship in this difficult time! What can we do? The main thing is that aggression should not fill your heart. Try to help anyone who needs your support! We are all brothers and sisters
From Moscow to Toruń
– In 2017, Kurakowa, due to the very high competition among soloists in Russia, expressed her desire to train at the Axel Toruń club. Together with her parents, she also expressed her desire to represent Poland. It has been running under the white and red flag since 2019 –
In 2022, Kurakowa took fifth place at the European Championships. She was 12th at the Beijing Olympics. In a few days she will start in Montpellier. Like Anastasia Gubanowa, who, although she comes from Togliatti in the Samara Region, represents Georgia.
Russians do their jobs
In parallel to the world championship in France, the Russians will organize the national Channel One Cup competition in Sochi. Their best skaters will start there. – It will be a real world championship. Without us, every competition loses its value – says the famous trainer Tatiana Tarasowa. Its players have so far won as many as seven Olympic gold medals.
After imposing sanctions in other disciplines, the Russians adopted the tactic of organizing their own competitions. Alternative “Winter Paralympic Games” will be held in Khanty-Mansiysk on 18-21 March. Apart from the Russians, there will also be Belarusians. Athletes from these two countries were eventually not allowed to participate in the Beijing Paralympic Games.
The Russians also disregard the sanctions imposed on the hockey they love. Canada missed two Olympics and seven World Championships once due to an argument with the World Hockey Federation. The boycott did not break their hockey. Nothing is lost with us, too, argue the journalists of the Sport-express.ru portal. In the years 1970-1976, Canadians gave up international appearances because the world authorities did not want to allow them to field professional players.
The head of the Russian Skating Union, Alexey Kravtsov, revealed that the Russian Olympic Committee was involved in the process of submitting a complaint to the International Tribunal for Sports in Lausanne (CAS) over the exclusion of Russians from international competitions.
Source: Sport
Tristin is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his in-depth and engaging writing on sports. He currently works as a writer at 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the sports industry.
