‘Not my style’: Figure skating queen Evgenia Medvedeva would resist offers from men’s magazines for revealing photoshoots

Two-time world figure skating champion Evgenia Medvedeva has voiced her feelings about stripping off for photoshoots for men’s magazines, saying that she would rather turn them down because the idea “contradicts her style.”

The Olympic silver medalist added, however, that she doesn’t condemn athletes who have posed for such publications, apparently referring to compatriot Elizaveta Tuktamysheva, who featured on the cover of Maxim magazine last month.

2021 world silver medalist Tuktamysheva took part in a photo session called 'the song of ice and ice-cream', posing topless and in lingerie for the men’s periodical in a shoot that triggered mixed reactions in the Russian press.

“I don’t think that [posing for men’s magazines] will suit me," Medvedeva told Match TV. "It’s not my style but I don’t condemn those who did it."

The ice star, who has returned to her long-term coach Eteri Tutberidze following a two-year absence, has been forced to skip the entire season due to health problems.

In the autumn, Medvedeva spent several days in hospital to treat a serious spine injury.

And later, just as she planned to return to the ice, her training was undermined again when she contracted Covid-19.

The 21-year-old, who is preparing intensively for next season, is expected to vie for a place on the Olympic team alongside other Russian stars, fighting for only three spots in the squad.