The International Skating Union has announced the cancellation of the Grand Prix of Figure Skating Finals in Osaka, which was to be held from December 9-12.

The reason was the difficult epidemiological situation in the world: from November 30, Japan closed its borders to foreigners due to the spread of the omicron strain of the coronavirus.

Initially, it was planned to hold the tournament in the "bubble" format.

However, as stated in a message on the ISU's official website, due to quarantine measures, security and logistics issues, it turned out to be incredibly difficult, so it was decided to postpone the competition to the end of the season. 

Thus, a large number of Russian skaters will have to reconsider their preparations for the main starts of the season.

Mikhail Kolyada (men's single skating), Kamila Valieva, Anna Shcherbakova, Elizaveta Tuktamysheva, Maya Khromykh, Alena Kostornaya (all women's single skating), Anastasia Mishina and Alexander Gallyamov, Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov, Alexandra Boykova and Dmitry Kozlovsky, Daria Pavlyuchenko and Denis Khodykin (all - pair skating), Victoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapov (ice dancing).

As the general director of the Russian Figure Skating Federation Alexander Kogan noted, ISU made the right decision, since the health of athletes in the Olympic season is more important than holding a tournament.

“Now we can only express regret.

We live in such a difficult time when many events, large forums are canceled due to the epidemiological situation.

We understand how much effort the Japanese Speed ​​Skating Federation put in to organize the finals at this difficult time, but the government decision can hardly be discussed.

We hope that the rest of the events will proceed as planned.

As for the training of athletes, our professional coaches will be able to competently organize their work taking into account the changes that have occurred, ”Kogan said in an interview with TASS.

Honored Coach of the USSR Tatyana Tarasova expressed regret that no one else wanted to hold the competition on the scheduled dates.

“The whole world was seized by the disease.

We cannot influence this.

It is a pity that no one volunteered to host this tournament.

And we do not carry out - we also have a disease, like everyone else, ”- said the specialist.

Until recently, two-time Olympic champion Evgeni Plushenko hoped to transfer the tournament to Russia.

According to the coach, in our country a large number of cities are able to host competitions - Sochi, Krasnoyarsk, Chelyabinsk, Petersburg, Moscow.

“We, athletes, are like soldiers.

We will be told to work, we work.

Alexey Mishin trained me in this way, I also try to work with my charges.

I am waiting for a complete decision from the federation.

Hopefully, in the end there will be a postponement of the Grand Prix finals.

Maybe to our country, "the coach said in an interview with Sport-Express.

In turn, State Duma deputy Svetlana Zhurova believes that the Grand Prix final was not held in Russia due to political nuances.

“There has already been a case when the world championship was transferred from Japan to Russia due to an accident at a nuclear power plant.

Then it went very well.

And the Grand Prix final is even easier to organize.

ISU has always worked well with us, so they know where to go - Russia is always ready to help.

But, unfortunately, they may not give such an opportunity due to the same epidemic.

And also because of politics.

Let them start bombarding me with tomatoes again, but there are a lot of such precedents ”, - quotes the words of the Olympic champion Sport24.

However, politics in this case did not play a role.

According to FFKK President Alexander Gorshkov, the option of transferring the competition to Sochi or another city was not considered, since less than a week was left before the start of the Grand Prix finals.

“You yourself understand that it is impossible to organize all this within two days.

Therefore, there is no talk of changing the place, ”the specialist noted.

At the same time, according to the Honorary President of the FFKKR Valentin Piseev, for the future ISU it is worth thinking about alternate options for holding major competitions.

Two-time Olympic champion Maxim Trankov admitted that the cancellation of the final did not come as a surprise, since rumors had been circulating for a long time and everyone was waiting for a final decision.

“This is not the first tournament that has been canceled in the past two years since the coronavirus emerged.

Athletes are upset, but this is no longer an extreme situation: the World Championships, European Championships and other Grand Prix series have been canceled.

Concerns about the Olympics?

We live in a world where they always exist.

The skaters and coaches have to work, train and prepare intensively, and then we will wait and watch how the situation develops, "Trankov said.

But the former ice dancing figure skater Ekaterina Rubleva is upset that the cancellation will prevent Sofia Tyutyunina and Alexander Shustitsky from taking part in the final of the junior tournament, whom she trains.

“For young guys this is such a chance to cook in one pot, to be in the same space with really outstanding athletes and, of course, it is very sad that the virus took this opportunity away from children. After such events, athletes always grow significantly - they watch, absorb this atmosphere, adopt some experience. Unfortunately, for our duo, the current Grand Prix final was the only chance to participate in competitions of this kind, because next year they will already switch to adult skating. We will train, we will try to stay motivated. Ahead is the national championship, as well as the junior world championship, which, I hope, will not be canceled. I would very much like to participate in it. Therefore, there is always something to do ”, - complained Rubleva.

Honored coach of Russia Tamara Moskvina does not see any reason to be upset because of the cancellation of the tournament.

Now her skaters will be preparing for the national championship, which will be held in St. Petersburg from 21 to 26 December.

“We were waiting for the sun, it started to rain.

So what?

We put on a raincoat and go, take an umbrella.

We continue to live, we rebuild, we don’t tear our hair, there are so few of them left.

We will now hold some events and prepare for the Russian Championship.

We planned to fly 10 hours to Vladivostok, then back.

And now we will have an easy rest and calm preparation for the Russian Championship, ”the specialist noted.

I agree with the legendary coach and Gorshkov.

According to the president of FFKK, the cancellation of the tournament will in no way affect the preparation of skaters for the Olympic Games.

“This is an interesting start for the athletes, which was part of the plan.

But it has absolutely no decisive importance, ”the specialist believes.