World and European figure skating champion Maria Butyrskaya has blamed her poor performance at last week's Russian national championship on shock after her car was mysteriously blown up.
Butyrskaya's five-year reign as Russian figure skating queen ended on Saturday, two days after her BMW car was destroyed in an explosion outside her apartment building in central Moscow.
The 27-year-old, who was forced to hire bodyguards during the competition, looked nervous but skated a steady programme and had to settle for second place behind Irina Slutskaya.
But this week Butyrskaya said the attack might have been aimed at derailing her preparations for this season's major championships.
"I don't see any other reason for it than jealousy, pure human jealousy," she said. "I think some people just couldn't stand the fact that I became successful and got all the things that I deserve.
"In top level sports the stakes are high, and, I guess, some people were willing to go to any lengths to get me out of their way," she said, without giving any further comment to back up her suspicions.
Butyrskaya said she had been told by neighbours they had seen two men running away from the car, after which it exploded.
In March in Helsinki, Butyrskaya became the first Russian skater to win the women's world title in addition to her earlier triumph at the European championship.
Last year, she also became one of the few female athletes to be chosen to appear in the Russian edition of Playboy magazine.
"I'm not involved in any criminal activity and I don't owe anybody any money and it looks very strange that it happened just before the championship," said Butyrskaya.
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