Russian Figure Skater Barred as Russia Appeals

Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva has lost her neutral athlete status and will be unable to compete internationally. The International Skating Union (ISU) confirmed the decision but did not specify which of its neutrality criteria the 20-year-old had failed to meet.

Valieva became the center of a global controversy at the age of 15 during the 2022 Beijing Olympics, after a sample collected two months earlier tested positive for the banned heart medication trimetazidine.

She was later handed a four-year doping ban and disqualified from the team event in which Russia had initially won gold, elevating the United States to first place. After completing her ban, Valieva returned to competition in Russia in February but remained ineligible for the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics.

The ISU has also revoked the neutral status of other Russian figure skaters, including Mark Kondratiuk and ice dancers Alexandra Stepanova and Ivan Bukin.

Russian Sports Minister Mikhail Degtyarev called the decision unfair and announced that all the affected skaters would appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, with legal support provided by the Russian authorities.

(Reuters, mja)