A celebrated Soviet-era figure skating coach, Tatyana Tarasova, has weighed in on a controversy involving Ukrainian skaters Violetta Serova and Ivan Khobta. Tarasova contends that the pair should face disqualification for not offering congratulations to the Georgian duo, Anastasia Metelkina and Luka Berulava, after their victory at the Junior Grand Prix. Tarasova’s remarks were reported by RIA News, and her stance has sparked debate within the skating community about the boundaries between sport and politics.
In Budapest, the Ukrainian competitors earned silver medals at the event. During the awards ceremony, the Georgian pair embraced the bronze medalists from Canada, Martine Ariono Kent and Charles Laliberte-Laurent, before turning toward the Ukrainian athletes. Serova and Khobta chose not to acknowledge the Georgian winners, a moment that quickly became a focal point for discussions on conduct and sportsmanship in international competitions.
Metelkina has represented Georgia since 2020, while Berulava has been competing under the Georgian flag since 2019. Both are originally from Russia, which adds a layer of complexity to the ongoing discourse surrounding national alignment and eligibility in figure skating.
The situation unfolds against a broader backdrop of international sports governance. In late February 2022, the International Olympic Committee urged world federations to restrict participation by athletes from Russia and Belarus in all competitions. In response, the International Skating Union halted Russian and Belarusian competitors from events, a decision that has reverberated across the sport and raised questions about the interplay of geopolitics and athletic eligibility.
Earlier, there was coverage of another incident involving a figure skater, Taisiya Proskuryakova, who chose not to perform the song of the German band Rammstein, illustrating how athletes often navigate personal and political expressions within the arena of competition.