Ari Zakarian: “In Armenia, our Olympians have nowhere to train”

After the 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Milan and Cortina, where the Armenian pair team Karina Akopova and Nikita Rakhmanin placed 14th in pair skating, the editorial team of Sportaran.com together with the Telegram channel “InsideYAN” spoke with the Vice President of the Figure Skating Federation of Armenia, Ari Zakarian.

Zakarian is a well-known figure in the world of figure skating. He is the manager of American figure skater Ilia Malinin and many other stars. At the 2026 Olympics, he was also part of Armenia’s official delegation. We previously wrote about him.

In the interview, he sharply criticized the situation regarding training conditions for Armenian athletes.

Interview with the Vice President of the Figure Skating Federation of Armenia, Ari Zakarian, after the 2026 Olympics

— In Armenia, our Olympians had nowhere to train. There are two ice rinks in the country — a state-owned one, the Yerevan Figure Skating and Hockey School, and the Gazprom rink. Armenian figure skaters could train at the state rink, but as far as I know, they were not allowed in. Even I was not allowed in — they said they did not know me.

— There is a manager there who believes it is his personal rink and makes decisions himself. I came to see the preparation of an athlete who, thank God, is allowed in — Mikael Salnazarayan — but I was not allowed in. At the same time, many people involved in figure skating know me. If the management does not know what is happening in world figure skating and who represents the Federation of Armenia, then the question arises — what are they doing there? I consider this an outrageous case.

— The second rink belongs to Gazprom. We trained there, but it closes for the summer period.

— There was a case when athletes were training at the state rink — they simply turned off the lights. Strange things are happening.

“I marched under the Armenian flag at the Olympics, and he says he doesn’t know me”

— The rink manager, Garik, allows himself incomprehensible actions toward us. I was in Armenia’s delegation at the Olympic Games and marched under the country’s flag at the opening ceremony. If he has a sense of pride for the country, he should pay attention to that.

— I would like people to look into this situation. Why does one person allow himself to deny representatives of the federation access to a state rink?

— Besides me, others were also not allowed in. Sargis Tevanyan was not allowed in either — and he is a prominent representative of figure skating, an international-level judge.

— The rink belongs to the Yerevan municipality, but one specific person effectively decides who can enter and who cannot. I would be happy to bring world stars to Yerevan so they could train, demonstrate their level, and so that our athletes could learn from them. But with this approach, it is simply impossible to get in.

“It could have affected the result”

According to Zakarian, the training situation could also have influenced the Olympic result.

— It could have affected the result of Karina Akopova and Nikita Rakhmanin in that when they come to Armenia, they do not have the opportunity to train regularly. The Gazprom rink is not always available — it has a tight schedule — and they cannot access the state rink.

— If we were allowed in, we could organize full training camps in Yerevan. But it feels like they simply do not want to let us in.

“They performed достойно”

Despite the problems, Zakarian highly оценил the performance of the Armenian pair:

— In any case, the Armenian pair performed with dignity. Today they are the 14th pair in the world, and that is a very high result. They could have been higher, but they will still have the opportunity to prove it.

In conclusion, he emphasized:

— We want people who consider themselves patriots of Armenia to prove it with actions. I am very disappointed with the current situation. In my opinion, such actions harm the country’s opportunities in the eyes of the global community.

— Writing statements to the police because we are not allowed into the rink? That is absurd.

Read also:
Olympics-2026: Why didn’t Armenia send the skier with the highest ranking?