ISU Revokes Russian Skater Valieva's Neutral Athlete Status

Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva will be unable to compete internationally this year after the International Skating Union (ISU) revoked her neutral athlete status, a source familiar with the matter told Reuters on Saturday. Valieva reportedly received a letter notifying her of the decision. The ISU declined to comment, and her representatives were not immediately reachable.

Russian athletes have been barred from competing under their national flag since Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The ISU created a pathway allowing select athletes to compete as individual neutral athletes after passing a strict vetting process, which requires no ties to Russia's military or security services and no public support for the war since February 2022. Without neutral status, athletes cannot enter ISU events, earn world ranking points, or compete for world titles.

An Associated Press source said Valieva's status was pulled over a potential breach of the criteria. Valieva, 20, became the focus of an international controversy at the 2022 Olympics when a sample she gave two months earlier tested positive for the banned heart medication trimetazidine. In 2024, the Court of Arbitration for Sport handed her a four-year ban, backdated to her positive test at the Russian national championships in December 2021. The failure came to light after she helped Russia win Olympic team gold, a result later annulled and awarded instead to the United States.

Valieva returned to competitive skating in February at the Russian Jumping Championships but was not eligible for this year's Milano-Cortina Olympics. Last week, the Ukrainian Figure Skating Federation urged the ISU to reassess its process for readmitting Russian and Belarusian athletes as neutral competitors, saying current screening fails to enforce basic neutrality standards. It called for stricter background checks, ongoing compliance monitoring, and a requirement that all applicants publicly denounce Russia's war against Ukraine.