“Four years is (a long time – approx. ) for women’s single skating, taking into account how much the young people “support” and what elements are currently showing“, explained the athlete.
He added that due to the current situation, Valieva may lose motivation to resume participation in competitions after the end of her disqualification period. The skater noted that it would be quite difficult for her to find the strength to do anything further.
“It’s really hard for her in this regard. If for me this happened at a more mature age, then for her it happened at a very young age. And it is, of course, much harder for her. But everything will depend on what kind of people are next to her and how they will support her“, Novitsky summarized.
In addition, the athlete called the CAS decision to disqualify Valieva and the International Skating Union (ISU) decision to deprive the Russian team of gold medals at the 2022 Winter Olympics unfair.
Novitsky supported Valieva, wishing her courage and inner strength to survive the current situation. He also expressed hope that everything would turn out well for her in the end.
Earlier, the press secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov said that the Kremlin does not agree with the CAS decision and called for using all opportunities to challenge the verdict and protect the rights of our athletes. In addition, the Russian Olympic Committee has begun preparations for an appeal of the ISU decision to deprive Russian figure skaters of gold medals in the team tournament.
