Remember how a couple of years ago everyone was actively discussing that figure skating needs a contract system? It seems that Valery Angelopol took it too literally.
No, he is not the first. In Russian ice dancing, there is a separate system of values and rules for the relationship between partners, in which the girl is absolutely not equal to the boy. Figure skating is a women's sport for the most part, and dancing, where you have to skate beautifully, be plastic, artistic and elastic, even more so. There are very few guys. There are only a few good guys.
Sometimes partners pay for the opportunity to ride with a “good guy”. Universiade champion Betina Popova and Armenian single skater Anastasia Galustyan, who at a certain point in her life wanted to connect her fate with dancing, spoke about such a practice. For ballrooms, this is also, by the way, in the order of things.
And in general, contracts in Russian figure skating have long since entered the notion of the norm. For example, in the academy of two-time Olympic champion Evgeni Plushenko, there is a kind of contract system. It was, in particular, two-time world champion among juniors Alexander Trusova.
According to , there are some official agreements (and quite strict ones) with the coach and in the group of Eteri Tutberidze. As they say, they concern media rights. True, they conclude them with the athletes of the senior group. And there is nothing like that in all this, I must say, no. Business relations in the modern world have not harmed anyone else.
However, none of them went as far as Valery. Therefore, before analyzing the situation with the breakup of the couple, we will give some clauses of the agreement, which, according to the former partner of Angelopol Vasilisa Kaganovskaya, he demanded to sign in exchange for the continuation of a joint career. There, in particular, it is written that Vasilisa was, as the skater herself put it, to take Valery on full financial support in a number of issues set out below.
So, 17-year-old girl (denoted as Customer in the contract) was owed to a 20-year-old guy:
- Monthly reimburse all expenses incurred by the Contractor in providing assistance to the Student (which of them is Valery is an open question).
- If necessary, pay for commercial ice.
- Purchase inventory, which includes skates, skate covers, blades, laces, tapes, skate care products, training clothes and suits for competitions. On my own behalf, I’ll add that everything listed to the member of the Russian national team Angelopol is due from the state on a gratuitous basis.
- Pay for individual work with a coach and additional training – “tricks”.
- Pay for fees if the federation does not pay for them.
- Reimburse all expenses for competitions outside the FFKKR schedule.
- Pay medical expenses. Pay compensation to Valery in case Vasilisa violates the code of ethics of the federation against him in the amount of 50 thousand rubles for each single case.
- Paying Valery for missed workouts for no good reason.
And you know what? Never before in my memory have skaters parted because of shoelaces. It is sad that the insanely talented and incredibly charismatic couple will be remembered for this clown episode of their joint career that has come to an end. It’s even sadder that Vasilisa and her parents, having received an ultimatum from Valery to sign a paper that was murderous for their dignity, read it to the end, and not sent their partner right away … Yes, at least to the store for the same shoelaces.
And also – what is in our figure skating takes place for the last time.
The opinion of the author may not coincide with the position of the editors.
