2000 Worlds
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Where's Julia?
Julia Soldatova of Russia, one of figure skating's brightest stars and last year's bronze medal winner, is missing from the 2000 worlds championships.The 18-year old from Moscow, wanted to be in Nice, but suffered the same fate that Irina Slutskaya did last year in the tough Russian nationals.
Only the top three in Russia were selected for the world team, and Soldatova finished fourth in her national championships, which were held in Moscow at the end of December.
Soldatova and coach Elena Tchaikovskaya wasted no time making alternate arrangements with the Belarus skating federation. The establishment in Minsk welcomed the talented skater, quickly gave Soldatova a passport and organized training facilities for her and Tchaikovskaya, one of the top coaches in the sport.
However,the Russian federation and the International Skating Union opposed Soldatova's skating at worlds.
According to Joyce Hisey, the Canadian who is the ISU's technical delegate to the world championships, skaters must establish a certain residency and cannot skate for another country within a year of representing someplace else internationally.
Soldatova represented Russia at the Grand Prix meets this season, including the Grand Prix final in January, where she was one of four Russians in women's singles.
Slutskaya, who won one of the two qualifying rounds Wednesday in beating Michelle Kwan, knows how Soldatova feels.
Slutskaya did not make the Russian team last year, although she had been second in the 1998 world championships. At her national championships in December of that year she finished fourth and did not qualify for the Russian team at worlds.
Instead of trying to find another country to support her, Slutskaya persevered and stayed in Russia, and became national champion this season.
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