Diana Davis and Gleb Smolkin have not yet become world leaders in ice dancing, but there is always a buzz around these names. Their every action is monitored, because they are one of the few Russians who managed to change their sports citizenship so quickly and enter the world stage. The fact that Diana is the daughter of Eteri Tutberidze, naturally, only adds attention to the duet.
The transition of the new Georgian couple to the best ice dancing school – the Montreal Academy – was surprising. For the duo, such changes will only be beneficial; there are super-specialists who have confidently held the leadership in the world for the second cycle.
Academy Coach Roman Agenauer said that Davis and Smolkin approached them two years ago, but then “it was not the right time,” and “now everything is improving.”
Only there is a couple training in Canada who are not at all happy about such cooperation. Ukrainians Maria Golubtsova and Kirill Belobrov They are number one on the national team and have been skating in Montreal for two years now, where they were given shelter because it was not possible to continue training at home.
To the President of the Ukrainian Figure Skating Federation (UFFK) Danil Amirkhanov I didn’t like Agenauer’s words:
“I don’t know what improvement in the situation he means. Maybe he felt better. Not for us. It has become much more difficult, given that the SVO (the wording has been changed in accordance with the law – editor’s note) continues. Such a statement is unacceptable for us.”
The academy was even sent a request to comment on this decision, which is important, to explain the words about “improving the situation,” but they never received a response.
The UFFK reported that they will talk to Ukrainian athletes so that they “limit any communication with representatives of Russia,” even if they compete for Georgia.
“We do not maintain any relations with former Russian athletes, regardless of which team they play for. We have not yet communicated with the leadership (of the academy), but we will definitely inform them of our position.
I would not say that we are not telling anything. We always prove our opinion, tell, show. But you understand that each federation and organization resolves issues at its own discretion. We roughly know what (influences). Maybe there is money somewhere, maybe joint activities. We do our best to keep them out of our sight. Unfortunately, not everything depends on us. Our entire federation has a negative attitude towards m******* (Russians – editor’s note). But they are using every opportunity to somehow return to figure skating,” suspilne quotes Amirkhanov.
The skaters themselves have a negative attitude towards this addition to the team. The partner said the appearance of the former Russians surprised some colleagues at the academy. This decision was not agreed upon with them, but was simply presented with a fait accompli.
Kirill: “No one is interested in this now. Some even think that the SVO (the wording has been changed in accordance with the law – editor’s note) is over. This is an unpopular topic. We usually don’t discuss this with anyone. I know that everyone at the academy supports Ukraine.”
Maria: “People are tired of this news. We are all tired of this and there is little we can do. We cannot control this (Russian presence).”
Despite all the beauty of the picture, the Montreal Academy is not an ideal place. There are many controversial decisions in their methods, and this is not at all about a large and friendly family in which each skater is treated with understanding. This is a common system, as elsewhere, where everything is decided by connections, money and the desire to gather as many athletes as possible in one group.
By the way, sports commentator Vitaly Volochai started the mess. In his Telegram channel, he criticized the UFFK for the fact that such a situation happened at all, especially against the backdrop of the recommendations of the NOC of Ukraine. There, Ukrainian athletes were advised not to greet Russians, not to take pictures, not to give general interviews, and not to shake their hands.
“I have a question for the federation. Gentlemen, is it normal for you there that members of the national team train with the Russians? What are the recommendations before the Games that the NOC recently voiced? Is everything okay with you?“
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