Russia Figure Skaters Hampered by Poor Organisation at World Championships

Poor organisation at the recent World Figure Skating Championships in Washington prevented Russia's skaters from performing more successfully, according to Valentin Piseev, the President of the Russian Figure Skating Federation. Russia won one gold and one silver medal at the championship. Piseev expressed this opinion on Friday, April 4 at a press conference on 'The achievements of Russian figure skaters in the 2002-2003 season'.

Piseev said that competitors and judges were detained at the airport for 4 to 5 hours on arrival. US security agents then woke the Russian competitors at 7 o'clock in the morning. There were problems with food at the start of the competition and problems with transport for its duration. Piseev also complained that the one-sidedness of the spectators also prevented the Russian skaters from performing to the best of their ability: the American public only supported its own skaters. He stressed that the closed judging system also had a negative effect on the Russians' performance: it wasn't possible to check how people had voted. However, Piseev described the 2002-2003 season as successful on the whole.