2006 Olympic champion in speed skating and State Duma deputy Svetlana Zhurova in an interview “Match TV” He stated that the decision of the International Skating Union to extend the suspension of Russian athletes for the 2023/24 season is expected.
According to him, it is not possible for the organization to make a different decision as it is currently under public pressure.
“ISU is under pressure from national federations. Again, there may be a story here that the football players appear to have been allowed in but the boycotts continue. ISU does not want this either. Although the federation has always treated us well and realized that the competitions are at a high level,” said Zhurova.
At the end of February 2022, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) appealed to international sports federations, recommending that domestic and Belarusian athletes should not be allowed to participate in any competitions due to the political situation. For this reason, ISU suspended Russian and Belarusian athletes from competitions. The organization was supposed to discuss the issue of accepting Russia and Belarus at the council meeting held in Lausanne on October 6-8, but did not do so.
Previously Svetlana Zhurova accused Europe applies double standards to Russian athletes