Eteri Tutberidze: “We need to start competing already. Enough of sitting on the sidelines. Naturally, it’s not particularly desirable for smaller countries to let Russia back, because they have finally gotten a chance to compete for medals.”
Eteri Tutberidze about suspension of Russian skaters.
original source: Sport24
Eteri Tutberidze stated that it is time for Russian figure skaters to return to competitions. Here’s a translation of her comments posted on
Since March 2022, Russian athletes have been banned from participating in competitions organized by the International Skating Union (ISU) due to their suspension.
“Of course, we need to start competing already. Enough of sitting on the sidelines. Naturally, it’s not particularly desirable for smaller countries to let Russia back, because they have finally gotten a chance — this is absolutely true — to compete for medals.
How will this play out? There was a strong country, and now what happens if we are completely excluded, for a longer time, to the point we lose our competitive edge? Then we’re allowed back —what state will we be in, without rankings, without anything? Isn’t that interesting?” said Eteri Tutberidze, whose comments were cited by Sport24 based on an interview aired on the Japanese news program Hodo Station.
In December, the ISU announced that Russian figure skaters would be allowed to compete in the qualification rounds for the 2026 Olympics under neutral status—limited to one participant/pair per discipline, along with one alternate.
Related topics: Eteri Tutberidze
Leave a Reply