Milan passions: which of our figure skaters will participate in the selection for the Games

Multiple Russian champions and European vice-champions Alexandra Stepanova and Ivan Bukin have ended the current season early in order to focus on preparing for Olympic qualification. According to matchtv.ru, the Russian Figure Skating Federation (FFKKR) has opted for the pair of Stepanova and Bukin to qualify for the Olympics. Whether this is true and who else qualifies for Olympic selection, - in the material "Izvestia"

Decapitated Grand Prix

Initially it was assumed that the main candidates for a trip to Milan will be determined by the results of the finals of the Russian Grand Prix series in Krasnoyarsk, which will be held February 14-16. However, a few days ago, three leading dance couples - Khavronina/Narizhny, Khudaiberdieva/Bazin and Stepanova/Bukin - withdrew from the tournament. According to Sport-Express, the athletes explained their decision by their lack of need to participate in the final.

This caused speculation that the federation's choice has already been made. If we believe the information that appeared, this is indeed true: Stepanova and Bukin will be selected for the Olympics.

Later, the athletes' coach Alexander Zhulin confirmed the information that his wards have decided to focus on the next season.

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- The final of the Russian Cup is a rather important tournament, so we made a joint decision with Alexandra Stepanova and Ivan Bukin, Elizaveta Khudaiberdieva and Yegor Bazin not to waste precious time preparing for it, but to throw all our efforts into getting ready for the next season, which is even more difficult and responsible than this one," Zhulin told TASS. - It was really quite difficult for us, the leaders of our group threw all their energies into preparing for the Russian Championship and successfully won it.

For the other participants, the FFCCR's decision may look unfair, but according to Izvestia, the withdrawal of the other two pairs was not a protest. Everyone understands what's going on and the conditions Russian figure skating is in now.

Admission to the Olympics is extremely valuable right now. At the moment Russia has only four "green lights": ski mountaineering, short track, figure skating and speed skating. At the same time, the eligibility conditions are extremely harsh.

Who else will go to the Olympics?

The situation is similar in other disciplines. According to matchtv.ru, Anastasia Mishina and Alexander Galliamov (pairs) and Adelia Petrosyan (women's singles) will go to Italy in a year. The only intrigue remains in men's singles: the candidate will be chosen after the Grand Prix Final. Vladislav Dikidzhi is considered the main contender.

- For me, the athlete of last year is Vladislav Dikidzhi," Tatyana Tarasova, honored coach of the USSR, told Izvestia. - He is in great shape now. There have been several competitions in which he won. They have tremendous results with coach Oleg Tataurov. I think he is the main candidate for a trip to the Games.

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Although the FFCCR is in no hurry to jump to conclusions.

- No matter how much some media would like to, but there is no need to run ahead of the locomotive, - commented the situation press-attaché of the Federation Olga Ermolina. - There is no need to comment on all sorts of speculations and nonsense. The list of participants of the FFCCR Olympic qualification tournament will be announced on February 28, at the specified date. Ahead, in the middle of February, we still have the Grand Prix Final.

Recall that in December 2024 ISU allowed Russian figure skaters to participate in qualifying for the Olympics-2026. The qualifying tournament will be held in September in Beijing. The Winter Games will be held in the Italian cities of Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo from February 6 to 22 next year.