13-year-old figure skater from Kazan will play for the Georgian national team

13-year-old figure skater Inga Gurgenidze from Kazan was accepted into the Georgian national figure skating team.

Russian media have already suggested that the athlete from Russia has attracted the attention of the Georgian Figure Skating Federation due to the fact that she confidently jumps the triple axel.

However, the president of the Georgian Figure Skating Federation, Maka Giorgobiani, told Novosti-Georgia that she had been interested in Inga for a long time – long before the girl began to perform complex elements. In addition, a year ago, Inga stopped performing under her mother’s surname Nikitin and regained her father’s surname.

“There are a lot of teenagers in Russia who jump the triple Axel, but I don’t invite them to my team. It’s no secret that it is the figure skaters of Georgian origin that first of all get into the Georgian national team,” said Giorgobiani.

Under the Georgian flag, Inga Gurgenidze will have the opportunity to participate in international competitions of the highest level.

Inga will start performing at the stages of the Grand Prix – in September – in Riga, and then – in Yerevan.

“We in the federation will try to create conditions to reveal Inga’s talent. We need to replenish the reserve – all our successful juniors have already moved to the senior category,” Giorgobiani said.

Sports observers in Russia have already predicted that in the Georgian national team, Inga has excellent chances to get to the junior world championship.

Historical successes of the Georgian team

Maka Giorgobiani is a former champion of Georgia in figure skating, for several years she collected the Georgian national team from legionnaires for the Beijing Olympics.

In China, the fully completed Georgian team showed a fantastic result for the country: 6th place in the team tournament.

At the same time, the most famous figure skaters in the national team, Maurice Kvitelashvili and Anastasia Gubanova, achieved the best results in their careers under the Georgian flag. And Georgy Revia, Maria Kazakova, Luka Berulava and Karina Safina, who were selected as juniors, were not known at all in professional sports before joining the Georgian national team.

For the first time in the history of Georgian figure skating, nine athletes will compete in all four categories in the new season that began on August 1 at the adult Grand Prix stages.

Meanwhile, due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russian skaters have not been allowed to compete in international competitions since March. In early August, it became known that even if Russia was allowed to compete in the world championship, quotas would be limited for it: the country would be able to put up only one skater or pair in each type of program.

The next World Figure Skating Championships will be held in Japan on March 20-26, 2023.