MOSCOW, April 11, Sergey Pogrebnyak. Head coach of the Russian freestyle skiing team Nikita Vasilyev said that the Russian Freestyle Federation has never had a rule for someone to demand money from athletes. Previously, freestyler Anastasia Tatalina, world champion in big air, in an open letter addressed to the Minister of Sports of the Russian Federation Oleg Matytsin, which was at the disposal of «Sport Express”, accused Vasilyeva of demanding that she transfer half of the funds earned for winning the 2021 World Cup. Subsequently, according to Tatalina, the coaches of the national team announced a boycott to her, which led to the disruption of the preparations for the Olympic Games in Beijing. «We in the Russian Freestyle Federation have never had a rule for someone to demand money from athletes. Regarding her preparation for Games — for Nastya, the preparation was completed in full. We trained and prepared her, there was no boycott. We ourselves even invested personal funds in this! After all, there were injuries, going to the hospital. We paid for her operations from our own funds, «said Vasilyev. «After the 2021 World Cup, Anastasia's outlook changed. She» put on the crown «, we had to deal with it. Even teammates saw this, as did other coaches,» added Vasiliev.
