Plushenko said that the Russian figure skater’s move to Kazakhstan was not done gracefully

Representatives of the Kazakhstan Figure Skating Federation acted in an ugly manner in the situation with Sofia Samodelkina’s unexpected transfer to another coach and it was impossible to influence this decision in any way, said two-time Olympic champion Evgeni Plushenko, who previously worked with the athlete, Liter.kz reports with reference to RIA Novosti.

Figure skater Sofia Samodelkina, who previously trained in Moscow with Plushenko, changed her sports citizenship in August 2023, and in May 2024, the Russian Figure Skating Federation (RFSFKR) officially confirmed her transition to the jurisdiction of Kazakhstan. After that, Samodelkina won the summer championship of Kazakhstan in July. Now, in October, the girl will go to the United States for a training camp with Rafael Arutyunyan. Arutyunyan in the United States trained two-time Olympic champion, three-time world champion Nathan Chen and two-time Olympic medalist, five-time world champion Michelle Kwan.

“It (the decision) was simply a shock. Everything was done very ugly. We could not influence this decision. We will learn and next time we will act smarter, working with foreign figure skaters. You always want to trust people and work with soul, but this is not always appreciated,” said Plushenko, commenting on the verdict of the Kazakh side.