ISU does not need Valiev and Trusova: “There is no desire to return”

The ISU discussed the return of our skaters, skaters and short track skaters intricately. Rather, he outlined the prospect in words in such a way that no one could see even through a microscope the desire to return Russia and Belarus. At least – return ahead of time.

When will this time be set? And everything is spelled out: “The ISU Council decided to explore feasibility issues regarding potential ways to implement the recommendations of the IOC and will continue to monitor the situation in Ukraine and its impact on the activities of the ISU, as well as decisions and their implementation within the Olympic Movement.” If you want to translate into Russian in other words, it will not work. Every word insures thought.

Was it possible to expect that the ISU would suddenly want to return all our athletes to the ice? Given that there will still be no general return, our quotas have been lost, and the athletes will be presented in a neutral status, and not everything, probably, was possible. But it would be bold. Why should they hurry? Winter sports are still a long way from the Olympic Games, and even from qualifying tournaments, you can safely not fill your brain with difficult decisions. Much simpler is to “explore feasibility issues regarding potential ways to implement the recommendations”. Still wait for the NWO to give a signal and colleagues from the summer species will show how to act and with what face. They just need to hurry, because the summer Games are just about a year away.

No, we knew, of course, that the ISU was capable of making a grand gesture in narrow circles: some time ago, it even allocated quotas for our skaters in the junior Grand Prix series. But he immediately noted: if the situation with admission in June is not resolved, they will burn out. All. Already burned down. Although to remove juniors is, of course, the last thing.

Now the ISU will hang in wait until October, when the Council will meet again in Lausanne. And in the fall, one of the most conservative organizations will be able to boo and decide on the admission of Russia. How? For example, one of our skaters in each event for the European and World Championships. As a neutral athlete – of course, with the restrictions worked out by other federations – even without discussion. The stages of the adult Grand Prix with our participation are almost unreal. They still have more representation than at the European and World Championships, and the ISU will meet in early October, and the adult stages will start on October 20 in the USA.

Whatever it was, no one had bright expectations. The internal calendar of competitions of the same skaters repeats international starts: the stages of the Russian Grand Prix are like world stages, the show program tournament is in the month of the European Championship, and “their” world championship is our Russian Grand Prix Final in March.

We regret being cut off from the world. Do rival countries regret? Life has already shown that not very much. The stands are empty, interest is falling, but, for example, European medals can now be regularly distributed among many countries. These achievements of ours, which we were honestly proud of, not only didn’t give up on them, but even pretty exhausted them. In Tallinn 2022, for example, Russian skaters won 9 out of 12 medals: four gold medals, three silver and two bronze. European countries for all two bronzes and one silver – these are not even crumbs from the master’s table. And thoughts about the development of all figure skating and moving forward – in this situation, for the losers, there is nothing.

Not only Europe, the world is also not happy with the fact that we have to give half of the awards to one country: before the pandemic, Russia won 5 medals out of 12, after it – 6. True, in the world at least we are not the only ones, monopoly competitors in a single masculine or dancing is enough.

Developing and learning, spending money and building your own school that can compete with Russia in the same Europe is a long and costly process. And they have been talking about the death of figure skating for a long time. Only those who have the money to attract famous coaches and all the expenses associated with ice can break through. You can, of course, take ready-made athletes under your flag – what we see today is doing, for example, Georgia. The noise effect from the next replenishment of the national team – this time in dances, was strong. The flag of Georgia Diana Davis and Gleb Smolkin have already called their own. As did Anastasia Gubanova, who previously became European champion.

But transfers from Russia are also for the time being. And then a storm may break out in a glass of national water, as in Hungary. In this country, the figure skating federation broke up with sports director Vardanyan after the organization was accused of actively replenishing the Hungarian national team with Russians. The cry “How long?” Thrown by one of the parents quickly became popular.

Of course, competition on the big ice suffers from our absence. And hardly anyone will dispute this. In Russia, the ban on international starts also hits. But for now, it’s more moral. Experts unanimously say: there is no stagnation. FFKKR strengthened the competitive season, giving the athletes of the national team the opportunity to perform and earn.

Last year we withstood, kept (or returned) the leaders at the proper level. Not everyone, but the post-Olympic season always takes someone away, leaving them behind. Permanently or temporarily is another question. Will Anna Shcherbakova and Alexander Trusova return to the ice, the beginning of the season will show.

But the first year of isolation for our skaters may seem even easier than the one that has yet to be lived. Question: will there be international starts, will continue to crush. And life, questioningly, will be harder and harder, no matter how optimistic we want to seem to each other. And without questioning, you can’t live.

Yes, global competition is suffering, although this, again, absolutely does not block the joy of rivals when receiving awards. And now Switzerland will be lucky for the next World Championship with two single skaters at once, and Hungary and Australia will be represented by two pairs. When else could this happen?

Yes, the last World Championship did not please with women’s ultra-si. Quadruple jumps and clean triples are already the dream of the stands. If at the first World Championship without our girls, four figure skaters nevertheless tried to perform a triple axel, then this year only two. And the basic cost of programs has fallen catastrophically. Even the Japanese Kaori Sakamoto – a powerful whirlwind on the ice – did not keep her level, losing more than 10 points in her total score. That, however, did not prevent her from winning the World Cup again.

Figure skaters like Sakamoto really need competition with our athletes. Kaori herself is not shy about talking about it and keeps an eye on what is happening on the Russian ice. Emphasizes that the return of the strongest will give her more motivation. “I am looking forward to this moment. I will have to show my maximum every time in order to compete with them at the same level and fight for the victory.

Sakamoto is, of course, the model of a rival. The Japanese woman did not allow herself to throw even a pebble in the direction of the Russian ice either during the Olympic Games (and the team tournament medals have not yet been received: Japan became the third in Beijing 2022), or later. Although, who, if not her, should rejoice at the elimination of rivals who blocked the path to the top?

But not Kaori, alas, decides whether or not to be our athletes on the ice arenas of the world. And there are many obstacles. That’s just the ISU gave the European Championship of the upcoming season to Lithuania. Hungary refused it, Bulgaria and Poland claimed it, but did not receive it. And the president of the Lithuanian Skating Union Vytautas Jasutis has already strongly supported the removal of the Russian team. The absence of the strongest country in the sport is detrimental to the ISU budget, as well as the level of individual disciplines. “But there is no desire to return them. We very much welcome this decision.” If suddenly one of our athletes is allowed to this championship, will he pass passport control?

ISU, of course, lost Russian advertising revenue and media rights. But it’s still not deadly. As the Council reported, “the first significant negative impact of around CHF 1 million will be noticed during 2023.” And then the reserve in the amount of 2.5 million Swiss francs will start working: it “will be partially liquidated in case of crises in order to compensate for the negative impact.”

But ISU sees the problem of melting incomes more globally, not only in Russia, this is the case. The report elaborates that the sports industry is showing signs of saturation, exacerbated by increased competition from other entertainment formats. And advertising spending is shifting away from television broadcasters and towards social media, digital technology and the gaming industry. The main sales market for ISU is Japan, and the above trends have accelerated in it as well. And then the most popular figure skater in the world, Yuzuru Hanyu, left the big ice. And the ISU expects the trends to have “potential detrimental effects on commercial operations” and some of the organization’s “valuable” TV partners are already voicing their concerns about the recent decline in their TV ratings.

So ISU starts looking for new sources of income, new sponsors and new ideas for development. And is already working on a long-term development roadmap, reviewing financial policy “to invest in strategic initiatives for the medium and long term.” In the medium term, there is clearly no Russian money, but actively, there is no doubt about it, American and Canadian ones will join.

Can the ISU budget, which is losing weight due to the absence of our athletes, affect the return of our athletes? To repeat the floridity of the expression of the parent organization: maybe, but in the totality of circumstances and feasibility studies regarding potential ways to implement the recommendations of the IOC. We need a return, of course. No matter how self-sufficient our figure skating is. Any isolation is a nasty thing, dictates restrictions. And it’s not about sports. So what remains for the new season for our athletes is the simplest and most difficult thing – to continue skating the way they know how.