Figure skating-Russian Valieva's neutral athlete status revoked, source says
2022 Beijing Olympics - Figure Skating - Women Single Skating - Free Skating - Capital Indoor Stadium, Beijing, China - February 17, 2022. Kamila Valieva of the Russian Olympic Committee in action. REUTERS/Phil Noble
Sept 5 : Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva will not be able to compete internationally after the sport's ruling body revoked her neutral athlete status, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Saturday.
Valieva, 20, was 15 when she became the centre of a global controversy at the 2022 Olympics, after a sample taken two months earlier tested positive for the banned substance trimetazidine.
She has received a letter informing her of the International Skating Union's (ISU) decision to revoke her neutral status, the source said.
The ISU declined to comment. Valieva's representatives were not immediately available for comment.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) imposed a four-year ban on Valieva in 2024, with the penalty backdated to when she tested positive for trimetazidine, which prevents angina attacks, at the Russian national championships in December 2021.
The failed test emerged after she had helped Russia win team gold at the Olympics, a result which was later annulled, elevating the United States to the top of the podium.
Valieva returned to ice skating in February at the Russian Jumping Championships but remained ineligible for this year's Milano-Cortina Olympics.
Russian athletes have been barred from competing under their national flags since Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
The ISU has established a pathway for select athletes to compete as individual neutral athletes subject to rigorous vetting.
Russian athletes can compete as neutrals if they pass strict background checks. Without neutral status, skaters cannot enter ISU events, earn world ranking points or compete for global titles.
The Ukrainian Figure Skating Federation (UFSF) last week urged the ISU to review its readmission of Russian and Belarusian competitors as individual neutral athletes, warning that its screening process failed to enforce basic neutrality rules.
It called on the ISU to institute stricter background audits, implement continuous compliance monitoring, and require all applicants to publicly condemn Russia’s war in Ukraine.
