No 15-year-old figure skater will be allowed to compete in the 2026 Olympics following controversy surrounding Russian national champion Kamila Valieva at the Beijing Games this year.
The International Skating Union (ISU) has adopted a new age limit for figure skaters at senior international events in a vote of 110 to 16. The move will raise the minimum age to 17 before the next Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.
“It’s a very important decision,” revealed ISU President Jan Dijkema. I would say this is a truly historic decision. »
The limit will be phased in as 15-year-olds enter competitions next season. The minimum age will be raised to 16 in 2023-24 and rise to 17 the following season, which is the last before the Olympics.
The ISU said the new rule was “to protect the physical and mental health and emotional well-being of skaters.”
This is expected to hamper the career of Russia’s top junior skater Sofia Akateva, who is 14. Her birthday in July falls a few days after the July 1 deadline for classifying skaters’ ages for the upcoming season, but she could be from the 2026 Olympics since she will be 18 by then.
Kamila Valieva: the investigation is still ongoing
The change was being considered even before figure skating at the Beijing Olympics found itself in the spotlight due to the emotional stress placed on 15-year-old Valieva. She was the favorite to win gold in the individual event, having helped the Russians win the team title, before a positive December drug test came to light late at the Olympics.
The teenager was allowed to train while a Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) hearing was in preparation, which allowed her to compete pending the full investigation. It is still ongoing.
Her main program was punctuated with errors and she slipped to fourth place. She was the subject of criticism from her coach Eteri Tutberidze when she joined her at the edge of the rink.
The ISU has drafted an age limit proposal stating that ‘burnout, eating disorders and long-term consequences of injury’ pose a risk for teenage skaters who are pressured to perform more quadruples jumps.
The decision was criticized in Russia, whose skaters are currently banned from international competitions due to the country’s military invasion of Ukraine.
“I think it was done to more or less level the competition, so that our Russian skaters wouldn’t have the opportunity to win medals at the world, European and Olympic championships,” Dmitri Solovyov told Match TV. , team gold medalist for Russia at the 2014 Sochi Olympics.
“But in my opinion, Eteri Tutberidze will find a way to prepare our athletes in an ideal condition at the age of 17 or 18”, continued Soloviev, “so that they can offer their best results in international competitions at this particular age. »