Averbukh opposed the screening of the Olympics on Russian federal channels

On January 8, 2002 Olympic silver medalist and choreographer Ilya Averbukh spoke out against the screening of the 2026 Olympic Games on Russian federal channels amid the unfair suspension of Russian athletes.

"I am not changing my position on the screening of the upcoming Olympics in Russia. I am sure that experts and fans will find an opportunity to watch all the competitions — it's not difficult at all. I think there is no need to show the Olympics on federal channels. It will be quite strange, given the unfair suspension of our athletes," he said in an interview with the portal Sport24.

Averbukh explained that buying broadcasts costs a lot of money and it is wrong to pay such an amount to show competitions without Russians.

At the same time, the athlete opposed any bans on watching the Olympics for viewers, stressing that there should be no blocking. Averbukh personally plans to find a way to watch the figure skating tournament in order to support Russian figure skaters Adelia Petrosyan and Peter Gumennik.

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