Famous Russian figure skaters refuse to play for Russia and change their citizenship

Russian figure skaters Diana Davis and Gleb Smolkin will compete for the Georgian national team. Diana, 20, and Smolkin, 23, have already added the Georgian flag to their profile descriptions on social media.

At the 2022 Olympic Games, Davis and Smolkin competed as part of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC), finishing 14th.

In connection with Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Davis and Smolkin, along with other Russian figure skaters, were suspended from international competitions under the auspices of the ISU.

According to The Wall Street Journal, on March 18, two and a half weeks after the ban was imposed, Davis, a US citizen by birth, and her partner Smolkin, who was born in St. Petersburg, were married in Las Vegas.

The Wall Street Journal claimed that their marriage was a step towards Smolkin's expedited naturalisation and the couple's move to the US national team to compete in the 2026 Olympics.

It is worth noting that after the events of February 24 last year, Russia experienced a massive outflow of athletes. For example, the famous Russian swimmer Anastasia Kirpichnikova decided to play for the French national team.

Sofia Prosvirnova, a four-time world championship medallist and five-time European short track champion, also refused to compete for Russia. The 25-year-old decided that she would compete under the Danish flag.

Prior to that, Russian former world heavyweight champion Murat Gassiev was granted Armenian citizenship.

Earlier it became known that Viktor Plitsev, a two-time winner of the World Biathlon Championships among boys and juniors, was granted sports citizenship of North Macedonia.

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