- Joined
- Dec 18, 2014
What people complain about is not that Ukraine, Belarus, etc. are part of Russia, or owe allegiance to Russia, or even like Russians very much.
It is rather that for quite a few years after the breakup of the Soviet Union, the figure skating establishments of those countries continued to be run by coaches and officials that were part of the whole "Russian" figure skating edifice. Many were in fact ethnic Russians and many more trained in Russia or by Russians and remained on friendly terms with the Piseev oligarchy. Plus, they were trained to appreciate the "Russian style" of skating (whatever that means, exactly), especially in pairs and ice dance.
Over the years this Russo-centricity among Eastern European figure skating federations has weakened, as new people rise to positions of influence in various countries.
I was not talking abour ex USSR (East Slavs), but about other Slavic countries. E: People from other Slavic countries may have similiar names but no connections with Russia at all, in terms of heritage or history. Many of them never lived among Russian people, nor in Russian's country. So, you cant claim by people's names there are Russians (or East Slavs)! In some of those Slavic countries I never heard of words such as 'russian style of skating' or any other country style of skating, nor that yours 'cold war narrative' was ever a big deal to begin with... Also, the fact is that many of those Russians went to America, so i dont see the point...