Japanese figure skater Kaori Sakamoto talked about the potential victories that the Russian could win after his return to the international arena. His words were quoted sports.
“Do I believe that I can continue to win if Russian skaters come back? Of course I want to keep winning, that’s natural, but I understand very well that I cannot stay at the top forever. So I will have to do everything that is up to me and yes, I will have to skate a lot better,” Sakamoto said.
At the World Championships held in Montreal (Canada) on March 23, Sakamoto won the gold medal. She was more than 10 points ahead of runner-up Isabeau Levito. The bronze medal went to South Korean representative Kim Chae-yong. It is worth noting that for Sakamoto this victory at the World Cup was the third in a row.
At the end of February 2022, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) appealed to international sports federations, recommending that Russian and Belarusian athletes not be allowed to participate in any competitions. For this reason, the International Skating Union (ISU) suspended athletes from both countries from competitions. The last major tournament for the Russians was the Olympic Games in Beijing in February 2022.
Malinin, who previously broke the world record to win World Figure Skating Championships.