Kamila Valieva, the Russian figure skater, has been denied the opportunity to compete internationally once again after a second round of evaluations following the withdrawal of her status as a neutral athlete.
The International Skating Union announced on Thursday that Valieva, along with three other Russian skaters who participated in the 2022 Olympics, did not meet the requirements to compete as Individual Neutral Athletes.
The other athletes affected are male skater Mark Kondratiuk and the ice dance pair of Alexandra Stepanova and Ivan Bukin. No specific explanations were provided for the decisions in these four cases.
“The ISU will refrain from commenting further on individual cases as long as appeal options are available,” the organization stated.
For Valieva, this latest setback in her career comes over four years after controversies surrounding her positive doping test during the 2022 Beijing Olympics.
Valieva and the other affected skaters have the option to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport within three weeks. No immediate response has been provided by Valieva or the Russian figure skating federation.
More Russians Allowed to Compete as Neutrals
The ISU has decided to permit more Russian athletes to participate as neutral competitors this season, following restrictions imposed after the Ukraine invasion. The ISU now considers them “presumed eligible unless they fall within the disqualifying criteria.”
This has led to cases where athletes like Valieva were briefly approved as neutrals after submitting the necessary paperwork, only to have that status revoked shortly afterward.
In 2022, the ISU banned athletes from Russia and Belarus, allowing only a limited number to return for the Milan Cortina Olympics and a qualifying event last season. Two Russian skaters, Adeliia Petrosian and Petr Gumennik, competed at the Olympics as neutrals without national flags and symbols but did not secure any medals.
According to ISU rules, athletes may be denied neutral status if they are affiliated with military or security forces, have been involved in military operations against Ukraine in the past, or have shown support for the war publicly since 2022.
Valieva Pursues Legal Action at Human Rights Court
Separately, Valieva is pursuing legal action regarding the process surrounding her doping ban, which concluded late last year.
A document released by the European Court of Human Rights disclosed that Valieva filed a lawsuit against Switzerland over a ruling by the Swiss supreme court last year, which upheld her suspension. During that time, she was seeking to overturn the ban.
Valieva’s claim to the European court asserts that the Swiss court violated her rights by refusing to consider alleged new evidence in her favor, as stated in the ECHR document. At the Swiss supreme court, Valieva’s legal team presented a news article from the Associated Press dated September 2024, alleging that the World Anti-Doping Agency suppressed evidence.
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