At the Kinoshita Group Cup tournament in Tokyo, ice dance couples from Georgia and the Czech Republic declined to use their national flags in order to take the traditional winners’ photo together with the Russian duo competing under neutral status.

➖ Gold — Diana Davis and Gleb Smolkin (Georgia), 189.99 points. Silver — Vasilisa Kaganovskaya and Maxim Nekrasov (Russia), 184.81 points. Bronze — Natalie Taschlerova and Filip Taschler (Czech Republic), 176.83 points.

➖ Photos were taken without flags not only in ice dance — a similar gesture was repeated by the medalists in women’s and men’s singles, as well as in pair skating.

➖ In the stands Japanese fans raised Russian flags — they were asked over the public address system not to do so, although there was no official ban on Russian symbols at the tournament.

➖ For Kaganovskaya and Nekrasov this is their debut senior international start after the ISU allowed Russians to compete under neutral status (the decision was taken in June).

➖ Diana Davis is the daughter of Eteri Tutberidze; previously the Davis/Smolkin pair competed for Russia and now represents Georgia.

🤝 Such a gesture speaks louder than words: in the world of sport there was room for respect outside of politics.

@ria_novosti_russiya