A politically charged dispute between the Olympic delegations of Azerbaijan and Armenia over determine skating music has been resolved after skating and IOC authorities reviewed the matter and the official program itemizing was amended.
The Worldwide Skating Union (ISU) mentioned in a press release to the Guardian on Sunday that it had examined the matter with related stakeholders. “The state of affairs has been reviewed with all events concerned,” the ISU mentioned. “The official names of the tracks that can be used are listed on the ISU web site.”
The change follows a criticism from Azerbaijan’s Nationwide Olympic Committee, which mentioned it had raised issues with the IOC over the Armenian pair of Karina Akopova and Nikita Rakhmanin’s deliberate brief program to Artsakh, a composition by musician Ara Gevorgyan, who was born Yerevan, the capital of Armenia.
Artsakh is the Armenian identify for the long-disputed Nagorno-Karabakh area and was additionally utilized by the self-declared ethnic Armenian administration that managed it for many years. Azerbaijani officers reject the time period, saying it implies territorial claims over land internationally acknowledged as a part of Azerbaijan however contested over many years of battle between the 2 international locations.
The committee said in a statement using the music would introduce political messaging into Olympic competitors and threat violating Olympic Constitution ideas requiring political neutrality on the Video games.
“The Olympic Video games are a logo of peace, friendship and mutual respect between peoples,” the committee mentioned. “It’s unacceptable to make use of this platform for political and separatist propaganda functions.”
The listing on the ISU website for the pair skating brief program now identifies the music as “Music by Ara Gevorgyan”, moderately than naming the composition itself, in keeping with the federation’s revealed music registry for the 2025-26 season.
Music choices in Olympic determine skating are sometimes submitted and authorized by technical and governance processes overseen by the ISU, although disputes involving political symbolism can prolong past sport governance constructions.
Late adjustments to Olympic applications can carry important aggressive penalties. Final week, Spain’s Tomàs-Llorenç Guarino Sabaté narrowly prevented having to revamp his Olympic brief program after resolving a copyright dispute that had threatened his skill to make use of music from the Minions franchise. Coaches and athletes say altering music late within the Olympic cycle can pressure skaters to remodel choreography refined over months in a sport the place musical timing and muscle reminiscence are inseparable.
Individuals acquainted with the discussions mentioned the criticism was initially directed to the IOC moderately than by sport governance channels and that the difficulty was subsequently addressed by discussions involving the related Olympic authorities.
The IOC didn’t reply to requests for remark.
Akopova and Rakhmanin are scheduled to compete within the pairs brief program on 15 February, with the free skate set for 16 February. The Russian-born companions – who had been already courting after they shaped their partnership in 2020 – later selected to signify Armenia by Akopova’s household roots, framing their Olympic look as each a private comeback and a milestone second for the nation’s skating program.
The duo solely returned to worldwide competitors final season after greater than two years away due to harm and the ready interval required after switching nationwide illustration. They secured Armenia’s first Olympic berth in pair skating since 2002 on the ultimate qualifying occasion in Beijing, ending second in a area the place solely three quota locations had been obtainable.
Azerbaijan can be represented in Olympic determine skating by a single male skater competing in a separate self-discipline, which means athletes from the 2 international locations is not going to face one another immediately in competitors.
The episode comes three months after Armenia and Azerbaijan signed a US-brokered peace settlement geared toward normalizing relations after many years of battle, although disputes tied to Nagorno-Karabakh stay delicate. The state of affairs additionally underscores how geopolitical tensions proceed to floor across the Olympic motion regardless of longstanding guidelines supposed to maintain political conflicts out of competitors.
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