ISU withdraws Russian skater’s neutral status

Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva would be unable to compete internationally after the International Skating Union (ISU) revoked her neutral athlete status, the sport’s governing body said on Thursday.

Valieva was 15 when she became the center of a global controversy at the 2022 Olympics after a sample collected two months earlier tested positive for the banned heart medication trimetazidine.

The failed test emerged after she helped Russia win team gold, a result from which she was later disqualified, elevating the US to the top of the podium.

Kamila Valieva reacts in the women’s team free skate program during the Winter Olympics in Beijing on Feb. 7, 2022.

Photo: AP

Valieva, 20, returned to competition in January at the Russian Jumping Championships after completing a four-year doping ban, but remained ineligible for the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics.

Russian men’s skater Mark Kondratiuk, a teammate of Valieva’s at the 2022 Winter Olympics, also had his neutral status revoked, as did ice dancers Alexandra Stepanova and Ivan Bukin.

Russian state news agency TASS quoted Sports Minister Mikhail Degtyarev as saying that all the skaters affected by the ruling would appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

“The Russian Figure Skating Federation and our skaters, who have been unfairly deprived of the right to compete in the ISU’s international competitions, will soon file a claim with the CAS against the ISU,” Degtyarev, who is also the president of the Russian Olympic Committee, told TASS.

“Our athletes and federations will receive legal support, including the provision of qualified lawyers,” he said.

Russian athletes have been barred from competing under their national flag since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

The ISU subsequently established a pathway for selected competitors from Russia and Belarus to participate as Individual Neutral Athletes, subject to a rigorous vetting process.

Under the ISU’s neutrality criteria, athletes can be denied neutral status if they are deemed to be serving in the Russian or Belarusian military or security services, have taken part in military operations against Ukraine since February 2022, or have publicly expressed support for the war.

“Each determination is subject to the applicable appeal rights under the ISU Constitution and Regulations,” the governing body said in a statement.

The ISU did not specify which criteria Valieva had not met.

Reuters has contacted the Russian figure skating federation and there has been no immediate comment from Valieva or the federation.

The governing body added that 234 individuals affiliated with member federations in Russia and Belarus had submitted neutrality declarations for potential participation in ISU events and international competitions during the 2026-27 season.