Former silver medalist at the European Championships, 22-year-old Alexander Samarin will skip the final of this season’s Cup of Russia series later this month.
The figure skater’s coach at CSKA Moscow, Svetlana Sokolovskaya, told Russian news agency TASS that injuries are not part of the decision; however, Samarin needs to recover and get in shape.
Samarin has had a difficult season – after winning a silver medal at the second stage of the Cup of Russia series, the athlete suffered from a back injury and also contracted COVID-19. The two setbacks forced him to miss his second appearance at the Cup of Russia series and also stopped him from defending his title at the Rostelecom Cup. At the Russian National Championships in December, Samarin placed sixth and did not qualify to perform at the World Championships.
This year, the Figure Skating Federation of Russia decided to change the selection process that they normally use for the World Championships and only the gold medalists at the national championships qualified to represent their country in Sweden this March. The remaining participants will have to qualify at the Cup of Russia Final.
