Alexei Zheleznyakov: “World Championships is inferior without Russians. When the main skaters in the world are not in the mix nobody benefits from this. Ratings are falling.”

Alexei Zheleznyakov, choreographer in the group of Eteri Tutberidze about 2023 World Championships.

source: Metaratings

Alexei Zheleznyakov: Of course, the World Championships lose a lot without our athletes. Our figure skaters, especially women, are the world’s top. In many countries, such as the USA, Japan, and China, there are a lot of fans of Russian athletes. Accordingly, because of this, the ratings are also falling. There are a lot of losses. If our athletes were in the background, no one would be interested. But it turns out that the main figure skaters in the world are not in the mix. Nobody benefits from this.

Sport is about overcoming. When you compete and realize that the best athletes are not in the mix now, it’s hard. I wouldn’t be very happy with that. Having received such a medal, I would feel inferior. If I had defeated the strongest, I would have considered that I had accomplished a feat, overcome myself, and achieved the success I aspired to. And so … The competition is inferior because there are no top athletes. This is the wrong story. Of course, someone rejoiced, gloated over this situation, saying, finally, these Russians are gone, and we will be able to take all the medals.

In general, there are a lot of Russian coaches who have been working abroad for many years. To be honest, it was the Russian coaches who, by and large, raised the world figure skating.

Related topics: Alexei Zheleznyakov, world championship