ISU Statement on Russia's war against Ukraine - Participation in international competitions of Skaters and Officials from Russia and Belarus

[Vagabond]

Americans born in the U.S. get blamed here if they skate for other countries and blamed if they don't.

 

[hanca]

Americans born in the U.S. get blamed here if they skate for other countries and blamed if they don't.

Well, you wouldn’t want Tutberidze’s daughter to be skating for the USA even though she was born there and has the US passport, and yet you think a child of two Russians with US and Russian passport is should not be considered Russian, only because he can do quad axel?

 

[BittyBug]

According to my logic, I believe either every skater with a Russian passport should be banned (including Malinin - if he has dual citizenship that includes Russian citizenship) or none of Russian skaters should be banned. As it is now, it blames a group of Russian skaters for something that was completely out of their control just based on their citizenship, while another group of Russian skaters happily compete. I can’t see why Gubanova, Sviatchenko, Pavlova, Kvitelashvilli and whole list of other Russian skaters are deemed ‘innocent’ and therefore able to compete while someone like Mukhortova/Evgeneev, Artemeva/Briukhanov and many many others ‘are guilty’ and therefore can’t compete. The problem is, if they ban every skater of Russian background, there won’t be enough competitors to have pairs and ice dance at Europeans, which would annoy many countries so lets pretend that some Russian skaters are to blame for having a lunatic as their president while other Russian skaters are ‘ok, it is not their fault’.

LOL so anyone who by accident of birth may have a second passport that happens to be Russian should also be banned? You honestly don't see any difference between having Russian heritage and actively choosing to represent a country for which sports and especially ice skating is equated to national glory, and all that is national is Putin?

 

[hanca]

LOL so anyone who by accident of birth may have a second passport that happens to be Russian should also be banned? You honestly don't see any difference between having Russian heritage and actively choosing to represent a country for which sports and especially ice skating is equated to national glory, and all that is national is Putin?

No, I honestly can’t see any difference. The war is not Mukhortova/Evgenyev’s fault any more than it is Gubanova’s fault or Malinin’s fault. If Malinin didn’t want to be Russian, he could have declined Russian citizenship.

 

[Finnice]

Efimova is born in Kouvola, Finland. As far as I dislike every skater who supports Putin and want them banned, I would not count her and Malinin to them.

 

[screech]

IMO Ilia is a bit of a different case. IIRC wasn't it recently said that he's never even been to Russia? That's a bit different from someone like Diana Davis.
Does Ilia have Russian citizenship? When I google his citizenship, it just says 'American'.

But I guess that means we'd also have to deny Anthony Ponomarenko, Maxim Naumov, Andrew Torgashev, etc, for daring to be American with Russian parents.

 

[morqet]

According to my logic, I believe either every skater with a Russian passport should be banned (including Malinin - if he has dual citizenship that includes Russian citizenship) or none of Russian skaters should be banned. As it is now, it blames a group of Russian skaters for something that was completely out of their control just based on their citizenship, while another group of Russian skaters happily compete. I can’t see why Gubanova, Sviatchenko, Pavlova, Kvitelashvilli and whole list of other Russian skaters are deemed ‘innocent’ and therefore able to compete while someone like Mukhortova/Evgeneev, Artemeva/Briukhanov and many many others ‘are guilty’ and therefore can’t compete. The problem is, if they ban every skater of Russian background, there won’t be enough competitors to have pairs and ice dance at Europeans, which would annoy many countries so lets pretend that some Russian skaters are to blame for having a lunatic as their president while other Russian skaters are ‘ok, it is not their fault’.

This is not hard.

The ban is for athletes competing for Russia, because the Russian state funds sports and uses sporting success as part of its self-promoting propaganda.

Russian skaters skating for other countries, whether they are delightful people or not, are not banned, because they a) are not funded by the Russian government and b) are of no use to the nationalistic warmongering propaganda machine.

HTH.

 

[Karen-W]

No, I honestly can’t see any difference. The war is not Mukhortova/Evgenyev’s fault any more than it is Gubanova’s fault or Malinin’s fault. If Malinin didn’t want to be Russian, he could have declined Russian citizenship.

For all you know, he has declined Russian citizenship. He only turned 18 a few months ago, which is the youngest age at which he would have been able to legally make that decision for himself.

Heck, I'm not sure he could pass a Russian citizenship test since he has admitted on one of his IG Lives last year that he only speaks Russian and can't read or write in Cyrillic.

 

[coppertop1]

Russian gaslighting, deflection and projection knows no bounds, does it? No matter how many times and how reasonableness we try to explain, they always seem to deflect and distort the facts. There's no accountability. Everytime they complain, the world's tiniest violin gets a little bit smaller

 

[gkelly]

This is not hard.

The ban is for athletes competing for Russia, because the Russian state funds sports and uses sporting success as part of its self-promoting propaganda.

Essentially, the purpose of the ban is to punish Putin.

The athletes whose careers suffer are collateral damage.

How much each individual athlete deserves punishment or sympathy can vary depending on our personal opinions and on what facts we have available about each athlete's options and decisions. We don't have to come to the same conclusions as each other.

Any decisions about rescinding the ban or making exceptions to it are up to the IOC and the various federations.

 

[Nadya]

Oh, please. You're the one who is equating some non-descript elementary school child from the middle of Bum****, Russia - where Putin doesn't give two shits about what the population thinks about the war or his mobilization - with a skater who is talented enough to be recruited by another fed (even if not good enough to make the Russian national team). Do you really think, if a skater is talented enough to be recruited by Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Israel, Hungary or wherever, but not good enough to make the Russian national tea, that their family is without the means necessary to leave the country? Fame is irrelevant to that part of the conversation, just the finances to leave the country. There are plenty of little girls of Russian extraction now skating for UAE at the Basic Novice and lower levels registered to compete next week at the Abu Dhabi Classic Trophy.

And, again, skaters who are good enough to make the Russian national team are, like it or not, famous enough that if they wanted to speak out against the war, or someone in their family did so, there isn't likely to be any retribution, so what's stopping them, apart from the fact that they actually DO support the war? I've seen these arguments for a year now, that someone like Evgenia Tarasova comes from a poor family and that she doesn't necessarily have the means to get her whole family out of the country, even if they wanted to leave. And yet, we've managed to see the likes of Shcherbakova and Tuktamysheva avoid the pro-war rallies and nothing seems to have happened to their families. Same with Davis & Smolkin, who actually posted anti-war messages on their social media a year ago. They have proven that punishment is, at best, selective.

Davis & Smolkin? Like, the girl with the U.S. passport?

Awesome parallel.

 

[Nadya]

For all you know, he has declined Russian citizenship. He only turned 18 a few months ago, which is the youngest age at which he would have been able to legally make that decision for himself.

Heck, I'm not sure he could pass a Russian citizenship test since he has admitted on one of his IG Lives last year that he only speaks Russian and can't read or write in Cyrillic.

A child with two Russian citizen parents is a Russian citizen by right, and no tests are required.

 

[Karen-W]

A child with two Russian citizen parents is a Russian citizen by right, and no tests are required.

The point is, if he was required to pass a written language test for citizenship, he probably couldn't, not that he doesn't have Russian citizenship by virtue of his parents.

 

[euterpe]

IMO Ilia is a bit of a different case. IIRC wasn't it recently said that he's never even been to Russia? That's a bit different from someone like Diana Davis.
Does Ilia have Russian citizenship? When I google his citizenship, it just says 'American'.

But I guess that means we'd also have to deny Anthony Ponomarenko, Maxim Naumov, Andrew Torgashev, etc, for daring to be American with Russian parents.

Also the Mokhovs and Daniel Tioumentsev---they were all born here to Russian parents. Considering that the parents of all of them moved to the US permanently more than 20 years ago, that seems absurd.

 

[airgelaal]

For all you know, he has declined Russian citizenship. He only turned 18 a few months ago, which is the youngest age at which he would have been able to legally make that decision for himself.

Heck, I'm not sure he could pass a Russian citizenship test since he has admitted on one of his IG Lives last year that he only speaks Russian and can't read or write in Cyrillic.

russia gives passports to everyone who can be used in their propaganda. I doubt that, for example, Steven Seagal or Roy Jones Jr can read russian

 

[kwanfan1818]

and b) are of no use to the nationalistic warmongering propaganda machine.

Aside from when they're claimed as Russian, whether themselves or through their coaches, by everyone from figure skating professionals to fans in Russia.

Heck, I'm not sure he could pass a Russian citizenship test since he has admitted on one of his IG Lives last year that he only speaks Russian and can't read or write in Cyrillic.

Not necessary for those who aren't naturalizing, as opposed to having the right to a passport. You don't even have to sit for language or citizenship tests if you are naturalizing and over a certain age in Canada.

Just like most US citizens by birth who couldn't pass the US citizenship test now.

 

[Sylvia]

But I guess that means we'd also have to deny Anthony Ponomarenko, Maxim Naumov, Andrew Torgashev, etc, for daring to be American with Russian parents.

I just wanted to mention that Torgashev's mother, who competed in ice dance for the Soviet Union, was born in Odessa and posted an Ukrainian flag on her Instagram on Feb. 24 last year (I recall Andrew sharing IG stories against the war/for Ukraine at that time).

 

[Nadya]

Ilia Malinin was born and raised in the US so I don't know why his parents birth place would have anything to do with representing the US.

Isn't the argument here about Russian skaters born in Russia and skating for other countries?

A child born to two Russian citizens is considered a Russian citizen by default regardless of his/her place of birth.

 

[coppertop1]

Proud of Canadians for speaking up

 

[fan]

Proud of Canadians for speaking up

can anyone find a link to the actual letter? google was not my friend today

 

[Nadya]

russia gives passports to everyone who can be used in their propaganda. I doubt that, for example, Steven Seagal or Roy Jones Jr can read russian

russia gives passports to everyone who can be used in their propaganda. I doubt that, for example, Steven Seagal or Roy Jones Jr can read russian

That's certainly a novel take on the one-state solution!

 

[sap5]

can anyone find a link to the actual letter? google was not my friend today

I've been looking for it too, and haven't been able to find it. Weird, for a supposedly "open" letter.

 

[marbri]

can anyone find a link to the actual letter? google was not my friend today

No luck so far but between articles can puzzle together a handful of names.
Tarasova is not impressed with Tessa:

Tatiana Tarasova: “What did our athletes do wrong to Tessa? Signing such letters, they kill their colleagues! This is a real murder and I can’t look at it any other way.”

Tatiana Tarasova spoke about the fact that Canadian athletes are against the admission of Russians to international competitions.

fs-gossips.com

 

[coppertop1]

No luck so far but between articles can puzzle together a handfull of names.
Tarasova is not impressed with Tessa:

Tatiana Tarasova: “What did our athletes do wrong to Tessa? Signing such letters, they kill their colleagues! This is a real murder and I can’t look at it any other way.”

Tatiana Tarasova spoke about the fact that Canadian athletes are against the admission of Russians to international competitions.

fs-gossips.com

I'm sure Tessa is devastated

 

[kwanfan1818]

I love the comment below the article:

Tessa as a former athlete who barely went to school is probably even less knowledgable than the average Canadian.

I suppose earning a university degree and then pursuing an Executive MBA means "barely went to school"

 

[tony]

I love the comment below the article:



I suppose earning a university degree and then pursuing an Executive MBA means "barely went to school"

I mean, the comment is so stupid that it's amazing.

 

[Karen-W]

I love the comment below the article:



I suppose earning a university degree and then pursuing an Executive MBA means "barely went to school"

Oh, don't look too hard in the mirror, Tatiana.

 

[Sylvia]

can anyone find a link to the actual letter?

A screenshot of the letter (2 photos) has been tweeted by Perdita Felicien: https://twitter.com/perditafelicien/status/1633975580742897665

ETA: Tessa Virtue and Meagan Duhamel are the 2 figure skaters who signed and Kaitlyn Weaver replied "I’m sure they would have had more than 40 signatures if it was sent to more people! Missing from my inbox "

 

[nlloyd]

No luck so far but between articles can puzzle together a handful of names.
Tarasova is not impressed with Tessa:

Tatiana Tarasova: “What did our athletes do wrong to Tessa? Signing such letters, they kill their colleagues! This is a real murder and I can’t look at it any other way.”

Tatiana Tarasova spoke about the fact that Canadian athletes are against the admission of Russians to international competitions.

fs-gossips.com

Actually, I think there's been a bit of an error with the translation here. It's actually from Ukrainian athletes about the Russian skaters who participated in patriotic figure skating shows, and should read:

Ukranian Athletes: They, participating in those shows, wish death to their friends with whom they competed! They all got into politics. What did our athletes do wrong? They just shut us down.

They just kill them! They kill their colleagues! This is a real murder and we can’t look at it any other way.

Previously, during the Olympic Games, wars were stopped, but they want to fight, they want to destroy their comrades, with whom they went on the ice together. Beasts, vile people!

/sarcasm

 

[chantilly]

I always loathed Tarasova and her ridiculous opinions and fur coats.