Her comments follow on from the news that FIG vice-president Michel Léglise has been suspended until the end of August in 2016 for "supervisory negligence" after running the Intercontinental Judges' Course in Bucharest, Romania, in December 2012, where it was claimed there was "irregularities" in the results given to the participants.

It was in fact Léglise himself who began proceedings against the discipline's Technical Committee, who were originally sanctioned and suspended until the Court of Arbitration for Sport overturned that action after finding them not guilty in April this year.

But Kuzmina went to the FIG at the beginning of the year and demanded an investigation into the situation as Léglise had given no indication of any wrongdoing at the course in question despite being there himself.

"When the investigation against the Technical Committee started we said we didn't do anything unlawful or against the rules," she told insidethegames.

"The proceedings were initiated by Mr Léglise which was very confusing as he was present at the test and at the end of the course he congratulated everyone on their good work and didn't make any remarks.

"I thought this needed to be brought to the attention of the FIG so they could have a look at this and see what happened.

"I filed the request in January against Léglise as I couldn't understand the contradiction.

"To me it was not clear how a person authorised by the Federation came [to the course] with special instructions, which we all implemented and whatever we were told we did, accused us of wrongdoing."

The FIG Disciplinary Commission ruled against Léglise on Tuesday (September 4) and Kuzmina thinks this move has marked the end of the saga.

"I am satisfied as we were able to defend our honesty," she said.

"I am happy to come back to work and cooperate with all bodies at the FIG.

"I am very happy that justice prevailed in this case.

"For me and the other members of the Technical Committee the story is now over and we are very much looking to the future.

"Of course there were lots of worries and there's a bit of a bitter aftertaste but I am very much at work.

"We've had the Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympic Games, which were a great success.

"The World Championships start next week [in İzmir, Turkey].

"Also we are continuing to work on our judging rules, which is an ongoing process where we review constantly to ensure there is clarity.

"So with all this work I don't feel sharp with emotions as I did in the process.

"I will continue to have a working relationship with Léglise."

Natalia Kuzmina is very confident of rhythmic gymnastics' future particularly after the success of the Nanjing 2014 Summer Youth Olympic Games ©Getty Images


Kuzmina also stressed that the decision of the Disciplinary Commission shows that the rules of the FIG work and that regardless of an individual's position in the body everyone has a right to say what they think and has a right to be heard by the appropriate audience.

"Everybody needs to behave in the correct way towards each other," she added.

When she spoke to insidethegames last year Kuzmina was concerned that the scandal was brought about in an attempt to discredit rhythmic gymnastics as an Olympic sport, however she now feels more confident about the discipline's future, although she did admit that it is still not clear how or why the row surfaced.

"At present, where rhythmic gymnastics stands it would not be possible to discredit it to the degree where it could be kicked out of the Olympic programme," she said.

"It's beautiful, it's for women and we are seeing more and more diversity.

"Also the President of the International Olympic Committee [Thomas Bach] attended the competition at the Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympic Games and liked how it was organised.

"He enjoyed watching the competition and it made a good impression."

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September 2014: FIG vice-president Léglise suspended in rhythmic gymnastics judges' course row