The composition of the Russian national figure skating team for the new season has been announced!

Since the appearance of the official lists of the national team on the website of the Ministry of Sports, an exciting emotion has arisen in the world of figure skating. The main criterion for inclusion in the national team was the result, which is a fair step. For the first time in recent seasons, the selection was based on the results of the Russian Championship-2023, including the six best skaters in each event.

However, there is an exception - the list of the dance discipline included the winners of the Russian Cup final Vasilisa Kaganovskaya and Valery Angelopol, who did not participate in the Russian Championship, instead of Alexandra Prokopets and Alexander Vaskovich, who took sixth place in the Czech Republic.

It is important to note that not a single skater from the Olympic roster who took a break last season managed to enter the national team. Even Alexandra Trusova, who performed excellently at two stages of the Russian Cup (3rd and 2nd places), did not get a place. According to the official regulations of the Ministry of Sports, three more participants in each discipline should have been included in the reserve team, however, they were appointed only in pair skating, dancing and men's single skating.

There was an explanation from the general director of the figure skating federation, Alexander Kogan. He noted that the lists were approved by the FFKR executive committee and sent to the Ministry of Sports in April, and the athletes were first approved based on the results of the previous season. The lists also include skaters who, for some reason, could not participate in the main competitions, by decision of the coaching council. A clarification regarding Alexandra Trusova and Alena Shcherbakova will be made later by the Ministry of Sports.

In addition, the list of coaches and specialists of the national team includes 215 names, 10 more than the number of athletes. Interestingly, some positions are formal, for example, in the documents, the men's team is led by Tatyana Tarasova, while the women's and pairs teams are led by Galina Golubkova and Valery Artyukhov, respectively.

All the main figures of Russian figure skating, including Eteri Tutberidze, Evgeni Plushenko, Alexei Mishin, Svetlana Sokolovskaya and Tamara Moskvina, are at the Sports Training Center. Even the scandalous doctor Philip Shvetsky was given a place, although since this season he has been working as a specialist, and not a doctor from the FMBA.