“After competitions or at camps alcohol flows freely. One official banquet after international competitions even ended with calling in strippers.” Sofia Baranova about pills to lose weight and athletes’ parties

Translation of the interview with Sofia Baranova who unveils the truth about behind-the-scenes of Russian figure skating.

original source: sports-express dd. 31st July 2024 by Dmitri Kuznetsov.

In the interview with Sport Express, Sofia Baranova (18) talks about Why skaters retire at 16 and how they take pills to lose weight, risking their health, athletes’ parties at training camps and competitions, her complicated relationship with Mark Kondratyuk and how it affected her career. Here’s a translation of her comments.

“Q: Sofia, I assume not everyone reading may know about you. Let’s briefly talk about what kind of skater you are.

Sofia Baranova: I’m originally from Vladivostok. I got into sports for health reasons because I had knee problems from childhood. Then we moved to Moscow, I joined CSKA, trained for myself, but still at a good level. I trained among others with Katarina Gerboldt, Svetlana Sokolovskaya. Competed in stages of the Russian Cup, took third place in Syzran with 181 points, at the Russian Nationals. Participated in international competitions. Oh, when I was about seven or eight, I went to a competitions in the UAE, where there is a rink in a shopping center. I did everything I could, and won. The level of Russian figure skating was already off the charts then. (Laughs.)

Q: What are you doing now?

Sofia Baranova: After leaving figure skating, I spent a year involved in curling, even trained with a professional team. I have been involved in many things alongside and after sports — graduated from a music school, earned a diploma as a nurse, there was an art school on weekends. Even had an acting-modeling contract with an agency. I am currently studying at the Financial University with a major in “psychology in the virtual environment and media space.”

Q: Why did you leave figure skating at 16 and choose to study?

Sofia Baranova: A year before ending my career during a warm-up, I unsuccessfully jumped onto a step (a small platform for fitness exercises — Ed. “SE”), and I broke my fifth metatarsal bone. After the warm-up we had programs run-through. I said that my leg hurt. Of course, no one cared. I skated my program almost on my ass, crying and skating on one leg. It took about ten minutes to remove the skate, after which we went to the trauma center. They put a cast on me, and with it, I still showed up at CSKA to do general physical training and stretching, and went to school on crutches.

After returning, they quickly started to push me. During the season, my right knee swelled up, and due to inflammation, it wasn’t clear what the internal injury was. Thanks to Dr. Yulia, who works in Svetlana Vladimirovna [Sokolovskaya]’s staff, — after the competitions, I was sent to rest. But a week later, Svetlana Vladimirovna called and asked, ‘Are you going to the Russian Nationals?’ I went. I disgracefully skated the short program, so the coach said, ‘Either you pull yourself together, or we part ways.’ I guess it was supposed to be motivational. It seems to me not the best, but it turned out to be effective. I indeed finished last, but everyone was happy, I did everything. (Laughs.)

It was 2020, the pandemic began. We couldn’t find a doctor for me — someone went to the frontline, others were treating, and others… unfortunately, were no longer alive. We didn’t manage to meet three known specialists. By October, we find a doctor, and he says, ‘Why are you still walking?’ An urgent operation was performed, they cleaned up and destroyed the knee patella so that new bone tissue could grow. After anesthesia, I immediately called Svetlana Vladimirovna, imagining I was skating and about to go out onto the ice. But I took a long time to recover, meanwhile, I gained weight because puberty hit me doubly hard. But no matter how much I consoled myself with my love for sports, I tasted free life and lost interest in training.

Q: How did you get through puberty?

Sofia Baranova: Full-blown bulimia. At that moment, it’s crucial to see the desired number on the scales and tell the coach that you lost weight. One and a half kilograms overnight? ‘Well, I ran a 20-kilometer cross.’

Q: And in reality, not a cross?

Sofia Baranova: Of course, not. The cross was to another room where I ran all night. Pills. Bisacodyl, furosemide. I never took furosemide, but bisacodyl — yes, athletes take it in excessive amounts. Girls from CSKA advised it to me, giving me five pills at once because that’s how many they consumed themselves. I heard some took eight or nine. The consequences from furosemide are even worse. Although it exists in figure skating (furosemide is banned as doping both in the competitive and non-competitive periods — Ed. “SE”).

At the camp in Kislovodsk, where I was recovering, after any meal — dehydration. Pills expel water from muscles, not from fat, as fat is light. So the point is only to show a number at the weigh-in. And one day my mother caught me — in the morning after taking the pills, I had a gag reflex from a glass of water. She looked closely — my lips were blue, my face pale, with dark circles under my eyes. In short, I was on the verge of losing consciousness. And of course, I went to practice — what else?

Q: Did you part ways amicably with your coaches?

Sofia Baranova: With Svetlana Vladimirovna [Sokolovskaya], yes, calmly and with a bouquet. However, I couldn’t later keep up those relations, something I’ll talk about later. But we had one coach, Artem Igorevich Borodulin. He once decided to celebrate his birthday for two weeks — one before, one after — and he wouldn’t show up for morning training, so the kids just stood around in skates waiting to get on the ice. Sometimes you have an individual training session, parents paid for it and the coach is late or doesn’t show up. Parting ways with him was unpleasant. We paid 200 thousand (2300USD) for a training camp, I didn’t go — my parents never saw that money again.

Q: Is it psychologically tough to continue with your passion against the backdrop of injuries and health issues? After all, figure skating, although an individual sport, still has high internal competition and personal relationships are important.

Sofia Baranova: There are many stories to recall. For example, my acquaintance with Elizaveta Nugumanova. She came to the same camp in Kislovodsk later but started to assert her rights: demanded either a room of her own, like Dima Aliev’s, or to live in one room with Ulyana Kostenko. I was living with her. One time during the ice time, Svetlana Vladimirovna called me over and asked me to move to another girl’s room, advising me not to get involved.

I became interested in getting to know the girl who kicked me out. We became friends, at least I thought I was befriending her. Later, when Elizaveta was breaking up with the Rukavitsyn’s group, she asked for my support in that situation. I supported her, after which Svetlana Vladimirovna got upset with me: Rukavitsyn’s group is like a second family to her. I went to visit her, came with candies. She said: “What? Thanks! Brought them, now go.” Although I wasn’t against Rukavitsyn, I just wrote: “Elizaveta, I am with you, I saw everything, you did great.” But what I saw was rather her complaining, not how she was treated. Eventually, I was blamed and fell out with my own coach. I kept all the messages, by the way, everything’s true.

There’s also a story about relationships with boys. I’d like to talk about Mark Kondratyuk. I had, let’s say, a “flirt” with Mark at the same camp. I was 15, he was 17. I was a silly little girl who fell for a boy and told a friend. Through others, I later found out that Mark responded something like, “Me with her? Yuck, never!” Naturally, this didn’t make me look good in the group, everyone stopped talking to me. He told everyone what a liar I was.

Then some flirting started again, but Mark began dating Dasha Usacheva, ran away from her, and started seeing me again from time to time. When I finally decided to ask what all this meant and if we were dating, he went on a vacation with Sasha Trusova. Basically, he broke a lot of girls’ hearts. In my view, there’s a problem and it’s with Mark. He’s a gentleman, knows how to court, it’s easy to get hooked. He’s always with 15-16-year-old girls and they constantly change. Now it’s Liza Kulikova, who just turned 16.

Q: But you can’t command the heart; preferences may change. Does Mark bear responsibility for the feelings of others?

Sofia Baranova: I can at least use this interview to warn girls — do not to believe in devoted love, that there have been many like you. From a psychological standpoint, you understand — athletes spend all day on the rink, they’re not well-socialized. Girls at 17-18 retire and who remains are 16-year-olds. Yes, there is an age of consent. If someone wants to sue me for defamation, people will stand by me. I’m not saying anything illegal, not touching religion, parents. I think people should know about this.

Q: If we expand the topic, I’ve often heard about relationships between coaches and athletes. Is this an issue? Have you experienced harassment or abuse?

Sofia Baranova: Relationships between a coach and an athlete exist, unfortunately. The figure skating world knows the stories, but I won’t discuss them. About myself — perhaps you’ve heard about Andrei Uvarov, the director of the figure skating museum (currently undergoing a trial concerning his advances towards a 10-year-old girl during training, Uvarov has denied the accusations.— Ed. “SE”). He organized an exhibition of Mark Kondratyuk’s paintings; mine were there too. This man sent me messages flitting, there were some looks… Ultimately, I took back my paintings with my father for safety and didn’t even dare to get out of the car. After the story of his advances surfaced, I wanted to file a report with attached screenshots… But it would just lead to longer legal battles.

Q: Are there sensitive issues in our figure skating that may be overlooked by the public and which should be addressed? Judging, maybe?

Sofia Baranova: I won’t speak about single skating, but I’ve heard about ice dance. The dancers themselves have said: each season, conditionally, a pair or two pairs are chosen to be the leaders. Or even for specific competitions — today it’s your turn, tomorrow theirs. They directly say: your season is next, just wait a bit. These are perennial questions — why some are ranked higher than others, even though the level seems roughly equal? The results don’t match my perspective.

But I would raise another issue. The question of responsibility, who should bear it for underage athletes. It’s truly a challenging question. For example, in one group, a coach noticed that skaters weren’t losing weight. She checked their backpacks and found electronic cigarettes. These girls were 15-16 years old. I’m not a saint, I might smoke myself but I’m done with sports, I’m of age and can buy everything myself with my ID, not ask around corners. It turns out that girls are combining professional sports with smoking.

Another example: in another school, during my time, boys set up a competition to see who could lose weight the normal way, whose quads were better. They gave up smoking and alcohol during the competitive season but couldn’t give up snus because they couldn’t handle nicotine withdrawal. At least they made some effort.

Q: Do skaters drink?

Sofia Baranova: Regularly. Either after competitions or at camps. You go, gather in someone’s room, play cards, talk. Of course, there’s alcohol. In the presence of adult boys (like Dima Aliev, Sasha Samarin, Makar Ignatov, and others), alcohol wasn’t served to minors, and the guys themselves tried not to drink — I’m speaking from my own experience. I was shielded from alcohol. Nowadays, as far as I know, alcohol flows freely; it’s easier to obtain than some substances.

There has just been such an incident with the Korean team — harassment at a similar gathering at a camp. These occurrences are frequent and uncontrolled. At 16 well go to a cafe with your parents, don’t go to men who will ply you with drinks! He doesn’t care about you, at such moments men’s animal instincts kick in, and there’s just one need.

Even let me provide an example of official banquets after international competitions. In Chelyabinsk, there was a junior Grand Prix stage. A closed afterparty for athletes with tickets. As far as I know, the party ended with them calling in strippers. I wouldn’t blame the federation — they organized the event, they can’t control what happened next. And the question arises: who should be responsible for underage children? Grandpa, whose cake they ate, left traces, and then it turns out that doping tests are unfortunate? I don’t really believe the cake story, because I know the situation. Of course, it’s not about the cake. How could trimetazidine be in it?

Q: Responsibility lies either with the coach or with the parents. Or we make competitions only for adults.

Sofia Baranova: Yes, that’s a good idea. And let’s have junior-level competitions under maximal strict control, to prevent children’s psyches from being damaged.

Q: Don’t you think that such control might break their psyches?

Sofia Baranova: Well, do juniors at the Grand Prix really need an afterparty with alcohol and strippers, or gatherings in rooms? Coaches try to control it as much as they can; they come into the rooms and ask, ‘Are you sleeping?’ Everyone pretends to sleep, then they gather again.

Q: Like in a children’s camp.

Sofia Baranova: Yes. Either set an age limit, letting those who are of age take responsibility for themselves. From my experience, coaches fall into two types. The first is those who deal strictly with sports and medical training. Coaches should know what the doctor is giving. The other type is like a second mom, who might go to a cafe or to the theater with a student. You can ask her for help, which is good. But then coaches should also take responsibility.

Q: You’re quite brave. Most people in figure skating know a lot but say little.

Sofia Baranova: It’s logical, if you speak out, you might ruin your career, but I have nothing to lose.

Q: Are you ready for the reactions from this interview, people saying, ‘Who does she think she is? Just a bitter girl spilling everything’?

Sofia Baranova: One hundred percent that’s what will happen; I’m not a well-known person. But that’s why I came here to tell it straightforwardly — I want to dispel myths. No, I’m not a bitter girl, these issues have long been lived through for me. I simply see and hear what’s happening in figure skating, some things have improved, others have worsened, but such topics need to be illuminated. And who, if not me? Skaters won’t risk their careers, relationships with coaches or the federation.”

Related topics: Sofia Baranova