Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva has been barred from international competition after the International Skating Union (ISU) revoked her neutral athlete status this week, blocking her from the entire 2026/27 season.
Russian Figure Skater Kamila Valieva Faces New Sanctions
It's the latest in a series of ISU sanctions for the 20-year-old.
Valieva served a four-year doping ban after testing positive for trimetazidine from a sample taken ahead of the 2022 Beijing Olympics. That suspension stripped her of a team gold medal, later awarded to the US, and kept her off the ice until January 2026. She had been competing domestically since her return.
But her bid to rejoin the international stage fell short.
The ISU reviewed 234 Russian and Belarusian athletes for neutral athlete eligibility this season, requiring applicants to have no ties to the military, no participation in the war in Ukraine, and no public support for it. The organization didn't specify which criteria Valieva failed, though reports point to social media posts backing Russia's invasion.
Russia's figure skating federation plans to appeal the decision at the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Valieva is also challenging her original doping suspension through the European Court of Human Rights, arguing the Swiss supreme court refused to consider new evidence in her favor.
