What's the Story?

For the former Soviet countries, this was an important year. In 1998, Russian women were represented in figure skating. But wait...Russian women have been in the Olympics for a while, haven't they? Well, yes, but in 1998, these Russian women actually got to compete under the Russian flag. While the men had done so at the previous Olympics, the women had not. This year also saw the first female competitors from Azerbaijan and Uzbekistan, both of which were former Soviet nations. Representation was changing in a very obvious way at these Olympics. On the men's side, this representation was making waves. This was the second Olympic games in a row that saw a Russian man on the top of the podium. And not even the same Russian man. Russian figure skating was taking its earliest steps towards figure skating domination that would truly take off in the 21st century. Additionally, for the men, the very first Bulgarian, Azerbaijani, and Uzbek (all former Soviet countries) competed for their nations in 1998.

On the men's side of things, Ilia Kulik took over Alexei Yagudin's former spot as top dog. Yagudin placed fifth. These were the only two Russians represented for the men at the Olympics, but there were plenty of former Soviet skaters making waves in Nagano. One particular person of interest is Igor Pashkevich. Pashkevich competed in the 1994 Olympic Games, but he competed for Russia. Four years later, he was skating for Azerbaijan. It is unclear how he was able to switch nationalities in just four years, but this is the beginning of a trend that we will continue to see as the years go by. As Russia gained prominence in figure skating, it became harder and harder for skaters in Russia to make it to the biggest competitions such as the Olympics and the World Championships. Many Russian skaters then switch to Georgia or Azerbaijan or Ukraine or Uzbekistan because there are fewer high-level skaters to compete against in those countries. Roman Skorniakov, who placed 19th at the 2002 games, made a similar move, switching from Russia to Uzbekistan in 1996.

Food for Thought

When should skaters be allowed to change their nationalities in order to compete at certain competitions? Should it depend on the geopolitical situation in their countries? Of course, if they already have dual citizenship, then we ask a different question: how do they choose?