We realized that we should be afraid of Russians — Zhulin about revoking the neutral status of figure skaters

Two-time Olympic medalist in figure skating Alexander Zhulin said that the decision of the International Skating Union (ISU) to revoke the neutral status of Kamila Valieva and Mark Kondratyuk is due to the success of Russian juniors and the unwillingness of a number of Western countries in the organization to compete with strong rivals.

Earlier, RIA Novosti sources reported that Valiyeva and Kondratyuk were temporarily deprived of neutral status, which they were given in early August. At the first stage of the junior Grand Prix series, which took place on August 20-22 in Xi'an, China, Russian athletes won in all four types of the program.

"Apparently, the ISU saw that at the very first stage of the Junior Grand Prix, our guys and girls took first places in all four types of the program. And they realized that Russian figure skaters should be feared. That's why the International Skating Union does everything they want. I am also surprised that they allowed Alexandra Trusova and some of our other athletes to participate in competitions. The situation is deplorable," Zhulin said.

In June, the ISU admitted Russian and Belarusian figure skaters in neutral status to international starts. Both adult athletes and juniors received admission. Meanwhile, two more skaters, Ivan Bukin and Alexandra Stepanova, were denied neutral status.

Today, on September 5, it became known that Russian figure skaters won all disciplines at the junior Grand Prix series of the International Skating Union (ISU) in Bangkok.

Lev Lazarev took first place at the third stage of the junior series, Sofia Dzepka won among singles, Maria Fefelova and Artem Valov — in ice dancing. Thus, they all qualified for the Junior Grand Prix finals, which will be held in December in Chongqing, China.

The Russians performed at the competition in a neutral status.