The judge representing Azerbaijan is at the center of international controversy after the men's singles short program performance at the 2026 Olympic Games.
According to Idman.Biz, renowned Canadian sports journalist Beverly Smith commented on the scores given by Azerbaijani representative Yuri Klyushnikov.
Russian figure skater Pyotr Gumennik scored 86.72 points and is currently in 12th place. However, he received 96.96 points from the Azerbaijani judge, which means fourth place in the individual protocol.
"The voting of the Azerbaijani judge in the men's singles competition at the 2026 Olympics is strange. He previously represented Ukraine. He placed Russian Gumennik 4th (he is 12th), Egadze 5th (15th), Shaydorov 10th (5th), and Gogolev 16th (10th). By the way, Ukrainian Marsak is one step above the Russian," Smith wrote on the X social media platform.
It should be noted that Azerbaijani figure skater Vladimir Litvintsev took the last, 29th place in the short program with 63.63 points.