Idman.biz
Producer and co-owner of Evgeni Plushenko's academy, Yana Rudkovskaya, shared her thoughts on Russian figure skater Veronika Zhilina's potential representation of Azerbaijan.
İdman.biz reports that earlier, Olympic champion Alexei Yagudin stated that he saw no difference in terms of transition between Zhilina and another figure skater, Sofia Samodelkina.
Samodelkina has been representing Kazakhstan since last season. Zhilina has expressed her desire to compete for the Azerbaijani national team, but the Russian Figure Skating Federation (FFKKR) is in no hurry to approve her transfer.
Rudkovskaya thanked Yagudin for telling the truth and shared her thoughts on Zhilina: "This girl had a very serious back injury, she underwent a long course of treatment and rehabilitation. No one shouted about it everywhere! This is not show business, such things are not customary in sports.
She hasn't competed in any competitions in Russia for 875 days, and her parents have fully reimbursed all the expenses that the state incurred for her. The state did not pay for her ice rink rental; she trained in our private academy, which we co-finance with Evgeni. She has an Azerbaijani passport and has been a resident of another country for more than a year.
In December 2023, she informed the FFKKR of her desire to transfer to another country. The leadership offered her to think, weigh everything, and get treatment: we have no objections to this, they do not abandon their athletes. But there has never been an example of an 870-day "quarantine" in history. The athlete has already made a choice regarding sports citizenship.
Transitions have always been, are, and will be. I wish Veronika health and only victories. She knows that our family will never leave her alone and will be there for her - regardless of what decision is made regarding her sports citizenship in the near future."
İdman.biz
