Interview with Margarita Drobiazko and Povilas Vanagas

March 28, 2003

Report and Photos by Marie L. Hughes

Yesterday I had the pleasure of sitting down for a talk with Margarita Drobiazko and Povilas Vanagas, the Lithuanian Ice Dancers whose fourth place finish at 2002 Worlds was so controversial, to talk about the state of skating and about SkateFAIR.

The two had been quoted that morning in the Washington Post as saying they were going to retain their eligibility but that they would never skate again under the current judging system. I asked them what changes the ISU would have to make to get them return to eligible competition again and they laughed. "We didn't say this." Vanagas told me.

He reported that what they actually said was that they were interested in competing under the proposed World Skating Federation system. They like that there will be no eligibility rules because then all the good skaters who are no longer eligible can compete just like in the 1994 Olympics.

Drobiazko and Vanagas told me that they are supporting the WSF because they believe the organization is trying to make a good attempt to change things. Vanagas added that it's difficult to say who will end up with eligible skating. "Without a battle, the fight, it's difficult to go on." He also said the WSF has the ideas for the future.

Vanagas, who did most of the talking, at least at first, believes that it's good when there are different opinions. "You hope the best one will win," he says.

Vanagas and Drobiazko are excited that the World Skating Federation is trying to change the sport and they are excited about SkateFAIR.

Vanagas told me that they think it's great that we made SkateFAIR from the Internet and the people got together and united to try to express their opinions and disagreements openly in order to change skating. He compared this to before SkateFAIR when everyone on the Internet was always complaining about what was wrong with skating but not doing anything. "Now the fans are speaking out."

When talking about the WSF, one of the things they mentioned that the group wants geographically balanced representation. This led me to ask them what SkateFAIR can do about the fact that we are being characterized in the European press as being a bunch of "disgruntled North Americans". I told him that SkateFAIR has tried very hard to include fans from all the countries including producing our protest materials in Russian and French. The WSF appears to be having a similar problem with this perception.

Vanagas had an interesting perspective on this issue. He told me it may look like this, but that's just perception, not reality. The WSF started here but look at the governing body: It's from all over including Australia, Japan, Hungary and Great Brittan. As far as perception is concerned, Vanagas said, "You could say the ISU is North American because all the TV contracts come from here, but it isn't so." Vanagas' advice to us is to not worry so much about this issue. If people look at our protest, they understand something is wrong. He said that just because European fans are quieter doesn't necessarily mean they are happy with the ISU. "North Americans are more active in expressing their disagreements," he pointed out.

One of the reasons I wanted to talk to these particular skaters is because they are athletes who have negatively been affected by controversy in the judging system. I asked them how they felt about the petition that was circulated on their behalf at last year's Worlds.

Margarita became very animated when I brought up the petition. She thought it was great that such a petition happened because this was such a huge step for the skaters to overcome the scariness of speaking out. They had just gotten to a point where they felt it was better to speak than to be silent, she felt.

"The result [that the petition was ignored] shows very much how the ISU does things," she added. She said the ISU doesn't care about this very important matter and behaves as if it's nothing special.

All the skaters come up to us at competitions and ask what happened to the petition. "Nothing happened. They threw it in the trash."

The couple felt that the ISU only responds to the things they want to and ignores the ones they don't.

I asked the skaters if they thought the ISU could be reformed. Vanagas said "I hope it will be reformed." Drobiazko pointed out that this president [Cinquanta] has had a lot of time to do it and he didn't. "So probably he wouldn't."

I asked them when they had learned about the WSF and they said it was about two weeks ago. As soon as they heard, Vanagas told me, they just wanted to "express their support to the attempt to change something in the sport of figure skating."

They also expressed their support of SkateFAIR and our similar goals of trying to bring accountability to the sport. As a result, we asked them to speak at our protest on Friday, March 28, 2003. They said they would do their best to be there or at least send a statement of support.

I ended our conversation by asking if they were enjoying their time at Worlds. They said they were and that it's interesting to "sit in the chair" and watch after years and years of taking part. I noticed they were watching figure skating much like we, the fans, do including trial judging the event and getting exciting for their favorites.

All in all, I was very impressed with this couple. They are passionate about our sport and about trying to change it. Their support of SkateFAIR is particularly gratifying given that SkateFAIR started because we felt the current judging system is unfair to the skaters.