Lack of international competition bigger problem than age limit, says Pogorilaya-Nevskaya

Winner of the World and European Championships Anna Pogorilaya-Nevskaya in a conversation with , she noted that the lack of international competitions for Russian figure skaters worries her more than an increase in the age limit.

Earlier on Tuesday, the International Skating Union (ISU) Congress adopted the organization’s board’s proposal to gradually raise the age limit to 17.

“It’s amazing that they decided to do it gradually. I thought they would immediately put high 17 and that’s it. And so he is very loyal to many athletes. But I’m not so worried about the age limit. However, our girls, who have already passed the Olympics, do not fall under this age limit, and nothing prevents them from skating in this regard. So I don’t know what effect that will have.

The only thing that confuses me now, in general, is that Russian athletes will spend the next season in quite a floating mode. That is to say, there will be competitions, but they will not be international – I see a bigger problem in that than in the age limit. For example, Sophia Akatieva will now skate only in Russian competitions. In international tournaments, even if Sophia had skated in juniors, she still could have won titles. In that regard, I think it’s much more offensive and generally unfair to athletes,” Pogorilaya-Nevskaya told .