World Championships without Torsova and Valiyeva are Second Class,” Russian Newspaper Criticizes Travesty

A competition without Scherbakova and Trusova is a second-rate event.

The Russian sports newspaper “Sports Express” began criticizing figures in a fiery tone. What on earth is going on? ……

At issue is the fact that Russian athletes will not be allowed to compete in the World Figure Skating Championships, which begin on March 21 in Montpellier, France. The reason is that the International Skating Federation has excluded the Russians. This means that Anna Scherbakova, the gold medalist in the women’s singles at the Beijing Olympics, Alexandra Trusova, the silver medalist, and Kamila Varyeva, who finished fourth, are unable to compete.

The article stated, “It is clear that figure skating will lose a lot with the absence of the Russians,” and went on to note that Russia had dominated the podium in recent years. And ……

There are strong skaters in the world, such as Japan’s Kaori Sakamoto and Wakaba Higuchi, Belgium’s Luna Hendricks, and America’s Alice Liu. But you can’t expect a parade of quadruple and triple axels. They may try, though.”

He also added a touch of sarcasm.

In the meantime, it was reported that Russia will hold its domestic competitions behind the World Championships. The domestic competition will feature superstars such as Scherbakova, Trusova, and Varyeva, all of whom were in the spotlight at the Beijing Olympics. In Russia, “This is a more important tournament!” The event is also being called the “World Championships.

Figure skating has many Japanese fans. The athletes who have worked so hard for the competition should be blameless. I hope the war will soon be over and everyone can enjoy figure skating together…