“Without the Russians, world figure skating would be in bad shape” – Gurgen Vardanyan

Former sports director of the Hungarian Figure Skating Federation Gurgen Vardanyan in an interview with highly emphasized the role of Russians in world figure skating.

Russian athletes have been suspended from competitions under the auspices of the International Skating Union (ISU) due to the situation in Ukraine.

— It seems that the Georgian federation has now followed your path. There are more and more Russians in their team.

– I didn’t follow any path. I had certain circumstances, I never invited anyone or forced anyone to skate for Hungary.

As for the aforementioned federation, there are many athletes of Georgian origin, the guys train in different places, but they are always of Georgian origin. Yes, Russians also appeared, but look at the Junior World Championships: the first three places in ice dancing were taken by Russians competing for the United States, Germany and Israel. At the US Men’s Championships, our skaters took several places – and now we can say that the Americans are following this path? Sports are a world of their own, and for various reasons, people change their lives.

The Georgian federation is doing a lot for the development of figure skating: it opened an ice rink, tries to train young athletes, invites coaches so that the guys from Georgia will have many opportunities in the future. It’s a long road. I would like to highlight the president of the federation, Mariam Giorgobiani, who fulfills her duties perfectly, the Georgian federation under her leadership is enjoying great success.

— Without the Russians, the Georgian team would be untenable.

— Without the Russians, the entire figure skating world would be in poor health. Of course, there are many competent athletes abroad, but Russians have played and will play a big role,” Vardanyan said in an interview with .

Vardanyan left his post in May last year, preceded by scandals: parents of local skaters complained that the manager was giving places in the team to Russian-speaking athletes.