Russian figure skater Gallyamov writes new open letter to IOC chief

World pair skating champion, Russian figure skater Alexander Galliamov has written a new open letter to the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Thomas Bach, in which he hopes that the Olympic movement and the Olympic Games always look in the same direction.

June 23 was celebrated as International Olympic Day.

— Dear Thomas Bach! When, if not today, should we continue our one-sided correspondence? I finally realized that the Olympic Games and the Olympic Movement are two different things. The Olympic movement is for me unforgettable memories which were taken away neither by the damn Covid (yes, these were the most difficult Games in modern history), nor by the still unclear legal status of my recently immodest person ( champion, medalist, participant – who am I for the IOC?).

The Olympic movement is the dreams of thousands of people I saw in the village, it is a dream for six (I’m lying, for 150 million), it is continuous friendship and communication with hundreds of people who do not want to ask imposed questions (yes, we always communicate).

“I would like to wish that the Olympic movement and the Olympic Games always look in the same direction,” Gallyamov wrote on his Telegram channel.

On June 12, Gallyamov announced that the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) had completed hearings on the Russian side’s appeals in the Kamila Valieva case. In February, the CAS announced the registration of four appeals against the ISU decision regarding the redistribution of medals from the team figure skating tournament at the 2022 Olympic Games: from the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC), from the Russian Federation Figure Skating Federation (FFKKR), Russian Olympic Committee (ROC), Russian Figure Skating Federation (FFKKR), skaters and the Canadian Figure Skating Federation.

At the end of January, the CAS suspended Valieva for four years for violating anti-doping rules. The 17-year-old Russian’s suspension period begins on December 25, 2021, and her results have been canceled since that date. The athlete’s sample contained banned trimetazidine.

The CAS decision led to a review of the results of the team figure skating tournament at the 2022 Games, in which the Russian team won. First place is now awarded to the American team, the Japanese are second, the Russians will receive bronze. The Canadians took fourth place. The figures team tournament at the Beijing Olympics included: Mark Kondratyuk, Valieva, Nikita Katsalapov and Victoria Sinitsina, Gallyamov and Anastasia Mishina.

More sports news in our telegram channel .