Recent content by Lanja

No, but some countries have a list of red flags that they use to determine whether a marriage between a citizen and non-citizen is genuine or not. In Norway, that’s how long the parties knew each other before the wedding, whether a bride price or dowry was paid, where and when the wedding was...

That won't happen, the reason they switched to Canada was because of Denmark's strict residency & language laws to qualify for citizenship. Her being married to him now won't make a difference.

I wonder why the auction house thought Tonya's dress would go for "mid five figures." Right now there is an auction for some of Princess Diana's clothing, and the estimates for the lesser-known pieces are in the low to mid 5 figures. But in my opinion Tonya at her most famous was not even close...

What is Barakhtina's connection to Canada?

I don't know how Russians specifically think about this topic, but I don't find it surprising that a European would express the idea that blood/ethnic origin trumps culture and place of birth. In most (all?) European countries, citizenship is not automatic by birth and naturalisation can be...

If you really want to pursue the matter, get advice from a lawyer, not random people on the internet. Having said that, I agree with everything that VGThuy said.

Do I think Russia/Tchaikovskaya are being cynical and disingenuous with their comments now? Yes, absolutely. However, they are not out of the blue. Sebastian Coe has said that he has seen some citizenship changes in athletics that seem akin to human trafficking and similar comparisons came up in...

At the recent World Chess Championships, I heard from a Ukrainian fan that Russian media was hyping up the Russian competitor with the idea that if he won it would prove Russian intellectual superiority. This despite the fact that he was playing under the flag of the international chess...

I don't know if it's been posted elsewhere, but Aljona gave an interview in which she spoke about what Bruno had said about their partnership. I am biased against her so it came across to me as defensive, although I think she probably did experience their relationship quite differently to how he...

Article in Norwegian about the IOC's latest statement: https://www.nrk.no/sport/anklager-ioc-for-narrespill_-dette-ordet-kan-avgjore-bolsjunovs-skjebne-1.16357062 Several law professors & Russia experts give their opinions. They all agree that the IOC is too vague and leaves lots of (probably...

An exceedingly rare article about figure skating in the Norwegian news: Valieva and Eteri as a bellwether for all that's wrong with Russian sport. Lots of background about the doping and how her case in particular demonstrates all kinds of hypocrisy -- old enough to skate at the Olys, young...

I'm seeing a surprising (to me) number of "people support me in the DMs"-type comments from Russian athletes and non-Russians who support a Russian return...the latest are Martin Fourcade, the French biathlete and IOC athlete representative, and cross-country skiier Alexander Bolshunov. Any...

Jean-Loup Chappelet of the University of Lausanne said that one consideration for the IOC is that Russia will take a ban to CAS and the IOC might very well lose. He also brought up the diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Olys, but said it's early days yet and countries like the US, Canada, and UK...

Article about Mia Risa Gomez in which she discusses her LP in Espoo: https://www.nrk.no/sport/marerittstart-for-mia-caroline-risa-gomez-i-em-finalen-i-kunstlop-1.16275181 Speaking about the first fall: "It's going very quickly. I feel in the air that I'm off. 'Oh God, no,' I think, and am...

Article in Norwegian about Mia Gomez: https://www.nrk.no/sport/ukjent-16-aring-med-norsk-kunstlopsensasjon_-_-jeg-ble-sjokkert-1.16206014 "I came to the competition without very high expectations. It was a tough competition, but then I skated a very good short program without mistakes. That...