By The Moscow Times | Created at 2026-09-05 17:20:14 | Updated at 2026-09-05 19:43:15
2 hours ago
Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva will not be able to compete internationally this year, after the sport's governing body revoked her neutral athlete status, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Saturday.
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.
Russian athletes have been barred from competing under their national flag 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, including a strict background check. Athletes can not be affiliated with the Russian military or security services, have participated in the war in Ukraine, or have "at any time since February 2022, actively and publicly supported that war."
Without neutral status, skaters cannot enter ISU events, earn world ranking points or compete for global titles.
According to an Associated Press source, Valieva's status was withdrawn over a "potential breach of criteria."
Valieva, 20, was 15 when she became the center of a global controversy at the 2022 Olympics, after a sample taken two months earlier tested positive for the banned substance trimetazidine.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) imposed a four-year ban on Valieva in 2024, with the sanction 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 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.
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.
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