“Ashamed. I want to feel sorry for her”: Yana Rudkovskaya was shocked by the “glamorous fall” of the transgender figure skater 31.01.2023, 14:40

59-year-old Minna-Maria Antikainen (formerly Markku-Pekka) went onto the ice, but soon lost her balance and fell. The figure skater tried to get up but couldn’t. A girl with a Finnish flag helped her.

Antikainen has been skating since he was 50 years old. In 2017, Markku-Pekka won bronze in singles at the unofficial World Championships in Germany, but was denied a medal due to his skirt performance. Now, according to the organizers of the European Championships in Finland, the appearance of a transgender person on the ice symbolized “equality and diversity”.

Yana Rudkovskaya commented on the video of the “glamorous fall of the figure skater” that went viral. “How should I say it to fully express my fervent feelings, but not to hurt everyone else’s tender hearts,” the producer said. – Equality and diversity would be very well demonstrated by Russian sportsmen and athletes. It is just a mockery to let an unprepared person on the ice of the European Championships, who represents all age skaters.”

Rudkovskaya accepted the idea of ​​the organizers – to show that you can start figure skating at any age. However, she expressed the opinion that there are people in Finland who are good ice skaters.

“I want to feel sorry for her, but on the other hand, master ice knows no mercy,” Yana pointed out. That’s not a criticism, that’s a shock! Well, couldn’t the 59-year-old have been trained well to really show the level? Leave amateur, but not shy? I am younger, but also not a young girl. Nevertheless, before they let me, an amateur, onto the ice, I was preparing for it. And in a similar situation, I would make the jump and spin and triple roll a sneaky move.

The wife of Olympic champion Evgeni Plushenko invited Antikainen to her Academy. Rudkovskaya assured that by the middle of spring, the skater will begin to skate at the level at which she could perform at such events.

Taťána Tarasová also talked about Minna-Marie’s performance at the opening of the European Championship. “They let a transgender in because they made that decision. There was a lot of discussion. Let it ride. It’s still at the youth level. I saw real ugliness. I still won’t live to see them participate in major competitions, “said the coach.