Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva again refused neutral status to compete

DUESSELDORF, Germany (AP) — Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva has again been refused permission to compete internationally following a second round of checks in an appeals process after her status as a neutral athlete was revoked.

The International Skating Union on Thursday said Valieva was one of four Russian skaters, all 2022 Olympians, who were deemed not to “satisfy the requirements to participate as Individual Neutral Athletes.”

The others are men’s skater Mark Kondratiuk and the ice dance team of Alexandra Stepanova and Ivan Bukin. No specific reasons were given in the four cases.

“The ISU will not comment further on individual cases while any applicable appeal rights remain available,” it said.

The latest obstacle to the 20-year-old Valieva’s career comes more than four years after disputes about her positive doping test overshadowed the 2022 Beijing Olympics, when she was 15. She’s spent much of the time since then in various legal disputes.

Russian Sports Minister Mikhail Degtyaryov said the skaters had been “unjustly deprived of the right to take part in international competitions” and they would be given legal assistance to appeal the decisions with the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Appeals at CAS can take months, raising questions over whether the skaters could return to ISU events this season even if they manage to overturn the decision.

More Russians can skate as neutrals

The ISU is allowing more Russians to compete as neutral athletes this season, after most had been barred from its events following the invasion of Ukraine. It states they are “presumed eligible unless they fall within the disqualifying criteria.”

That has meant skaters such as Valieva have been considered eligible briefly after filing the paperwork for neutral status, only to have that status revoked soon after.

The ISU barred skaters from Russia and its ally Belarus in 2022. It allowed a limited number to return for the Milan Cortina Olympics and a qualifying event last season. Two Russian figure skaters, Adeliia Petrosian and Petr Gumennik, competed at the Olympics as neutrals without national flags and symbols but neither won a medal.

The ISU rules say skaters may be refused neutral status if they are serving with military or security forces, have previously participated in military operations against Ukraine or have “actively and publicly supported that war” since 2022.

Valieva has a case at human rights court

In a separate matter, Valieva is also pursuing legal action over the process around her doping ban, which ended late last year.

A document published by the European Court of Human Rights on Monday showed Valieva filed a claim against Switzerland over a Swiss supreme court decision against her last year. At that time, she was attempting to have the suspension overturned.

Valieva’s claim to the European court alleges that the Swiss court infringed her rights by refusing to consider alleged new evidence in her favor, the ECHR document says. At the Swiss supreme court, Valieva’s lawyers presented an Associated Press news article from September 2024 to claim the World Anti-Doping Agency suppressed evidence.

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