“There are few things that can affect the IOC’s decision.” Dmitry Solovyov on Tutberidze’s proposal to ISU

It is impossible to influence the decision to withdraw Russian athletes from international competitions, says Olympic champion from Sochi in figure skating team tournament Dmitry Solovyov .

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) recommended at the end of February to sports federations not to allow Russians and Belarusians to participate in competitions because of events in Ukraine. Many federations, including the International Skating Union (ISU), followed these recommendations and banned athletes from both countries from competing. On Sunday, the Russian Federation’s honored figure skating coach offered to freeze international rankings and not award competition medals until Russian skaters are allowed to start.

– From the point of view of sporting principles, I initially do not understand why our country is distant and assimilated at certain political moments. Under these conditions, the sporting principles of which the International Olympic Committee spoke at all levels are completely destroyed. What Eteri Georgievna suggested is, in principle, quite adequate. Why not? If our best athletes who win gold, silver and bronze medals in the highest international competitions are simply absent, we can argue and disagree with that.

Unfortunately, under the current conditions, I think that little can influence the decision of the International Olympic Committee. There, everything is decided as without us. It’s a kind of dishonest struggle, politics. Yes, at the time I was speaking there were also a lot of questions, but what is happening now… it’s out of the ordinary. And even though we continue to compete in our country, athletes have come to this sport to prove that we are the best in the world. No Russian competition can replace international competitions, either in terms of intensity or emotions. The age of an athlete is not long, and no one knows how long this mockery will last. Whether athletes will be able to stay in this clip all the time until they have the opportunity to perform at international level is a question, Soloviev told .