Japanese figure skater Sumika Kazanawa and Canadian figure skater Leah Cho removed their national flags from a group photograph at a junior Grand Prix figure skating event in Bangkok, Thailand, as a gesture of solidarity with Russian skater Sofia Dzepka, Russian state news agency RIA Novosti reported.
Dzepka won the women's singles competition at the Bangkok event. Kazanawa placed second and Cho finished third. When the three medalists posed together for the official photograph, Kazanawa and Cho set aside the flags of Japan and Canada rather than display them alongside their Russian rival.
Podium photographs at figure skating events typically show each medalist holding or displaying their national flag, a routine practice at competitions worldwide.
Russia's Standing in International Skating
Russian athletes, including figure skaters, have been suspended from International Skating Union competitions since March 2022, when the ISU barred Russian and Belarusian skaters shortly after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, following a recommendation from the International Olympic Committee. Russia's last appearance in Olympic figure skating came at the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing, where its athletes competed under a neutral flag as the Russian Olympic Committee. The suspension has since kept many young Russian skaters, including Dzepka, out of the sport's main international circuit.
Junior Grand Prix events are age-restricted competitions that let rising figure skaters test themselves against international rivals before moving up to senior-level competition, often serving as a stepping stone toward the Winter Olympics. Sports federations across disciplines, from athletics to swimming, have imposed similar restrictions on Russian and Belarusian competitors since the invasion, meaning gestures such as the one in Bangkok have drawn attention as rare public shows of support from foreign rivals. RIA Novosti is one of Russia's largest state-run news agencies and regularly covers the country's Olympic-sport athletes.
A Similar Gesture in China
A similar incident occurred on 23 August at a junior Grand Prix event in Xi'an, China. Russian skater Lev Lazarev won that competition. New Zealand's Li Yanhao finished second, and Japan's Daiya Ebihara took third.
Yanhao and Ebihara had brought the flags of their respective countries to the medal ceremony, and a joint photograph of the three medalists was arranged afterward. Before the picture was taken, Yanhao removed his own flag and suggested that Ebihara do the same. Ebihara agreed, and the three skaters were photographed together with no national flags on display.
Both incidents, reported by RIA Novosti, saw a Japanese skater's flag removed from the podium photograph alongside a Russian gold medalist.
