Figure skating will raise minimum age to 17 by 2026 Olympics

img
(Jurij Kodrun/International Skating Union via Getty Images)

The minimum age for elite figure skating will gradually increase to the age of 17 by the 2024-25 season, per a vote Tuesday by the International Skating Union.

For the upcoming 2022-23 season, the age limit will remain at 15 years old, the same as it has been. The following season, the minimum age will increase to 16, and then for the 2024-25 season, it will increase to 17.

As a result, the age limit will be in place for the 2026 Olympics in Milan and Cortina, Italy.

The ISU said the change was made “for the sake of protecting the physical and mental health, and emotional well-being of skaters.” The proposal was passed with 100 votes in favor to 16 in opposition.

The age limit change comes after a scandal at the 2022 Olympics in Beijing in which Russian skater Kamila Valieva, then 15, failed a drug test. She and her team were placed under investigation after the positive test.