Four-time Olympic medalist Evgeni Plushenko once slammed athletes who ‘turn their back’ on Russia. N

Thirteen-year-old figure skater Alexander Plushenko is changing his sporting citizenship and will now compete for Azerbaijan. This is a common practice among figure skaters who feel they have little chance of making the Russian national team — they switch to countries where figure skating is less developed, hoping to qualify for world championships and the Olympics in a less competitive field. The skater’s father, two-time Olympic champion Evgeni Plushenko, spent years publicly proclaiming his p

He was sharply critical of athletes who changed their sporting citizenship after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. “I sincerely don’t understand how anyone can turn their back on their country, accept those conditions, renounce the special military operation for the sake of competing at the Olympics. [How they can] renounce our president, renounce our lands, our resources, our mothers and fathers,” he said in October 2022. The announcement that Plushenko would compete for Azerbaijan split opinion on social media. Evgeni Plushenko and his son even made their Instagram accounts private. Here is what coaches, commentators, and experts are saying about it — along with Evgeni Plushenko himself. Sasha [short for Alexander] is still very young — he’s 13. He was never on the Russian national team, and for various reasons he didn’t compete this season, which meant he sat out the quarantine period. He didn’t take anyone’s spot; he trained at my private academy. This is a very difficult decision. A responsible and pivotal moment has arrived in Sasha’s life. I hope for friendship and support between Russia and Azerbaijan in the area of sports.

Key points

• He was sharply critical of athletes who changed their sporting citizenship after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
• “I sincerely don’t understand how anyone can turn their back on their country, accept those conditions, renounce the special military operation for the sake of competing at the Olympics.
• [How they can] renounce our president, renounce our lands, our resources, our mothers and fathers,” he said in October 2022.
• The announcement that Plushenko would compete for Azerbaijan split opinion on social media.
• Evgeni Plushenko and his son even made their Instagram accounts private.