ISU names figure skaters from Russia eligible for Olympic qualifying as neutral athletes

A list of figure skaters from Russia and Belarus who could qualify for the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics as individual neutral athletes has been published by the International Skating Union, four months before the competition to determine if any earn spots at the Games.

For Russia, the ISU announced two women’s singles skaters (Adelia Petrosian and Alina Gorbacheva) and two men’s singles skaters (Petr Gumennik and Vladislav Dikidzhi) have been approved to be eligible for the last Olympic qualification event in China in September.

Up to one entry per discipline is allowed at the Olympic qualification event — either Petrosian or Gorbacheva and either Gumennik or Dikidzhi — to compete for a spot at the Milan Cortina Games. The Russian figure skating federation indicated that it is prioritizing Petrosian and Gummenik, who are both potential Olympic medal contenders.

The skaters from Russian who qualify Olympic spots in September cannot be substituted for another skater to compete at the Milan Cortina Games.

No neutral pairs’ team or ice dance couple from Russia was approved. Asked if that definitively means that no neutral pair or ice dance couple from Russia will be at the Olympics, the ISU referred to a document that stated that the Russian federation submitted at least one pair team and dance couple for review and that some athletes “did not pass the special screening process.”

The Russian skating federation said in a press release that it “tried long and hard” to find out why its pairs and dance skaters were not approved, “but the reasons are unclear” and that the ISU was not obliged to provide an explanation.

The ISU said that skaters nominated by Russian and Belarusian officials would only be approved if they “have neither publicly supported nor are publicly supporting the invasion of Ukraine and are not linked to Russian/Belarusian military or security agencies.”

They also would not be approved if they have been “associated with anyone serving a period of ineligibility due to an anti-doping rule violation.”

Skaters from Russia and Belarus have been barred from international competition due to the war in Ukraine since March 2022. Many top skaters from Russia have continued to compete domestically.

This past December, the ISU announced that a limited number of skaters from Russia and Belarus will be allowed to return to international competition as individual neutral athletes for the last Olympic qualifying event.

There are five Olympic quota spots at stake in women’s singles and men’s singles, four in ice dance and three for pairs at the September Olympic qualification event. Many of the world’s top skaters do not compete at the last Olympic qualifier since they already earned quota spots for their nations at March’s World Championships.

If the ISU’s current list of skaters does not change, that means that none of the figure skaters from Russia who competed at the 2022 Beijing Games will return for 2026, including gold medalist Anna Shcherbakova.

Petrosian, 17, is expected to contend for gold at the Milan Cortina Games if she qualifies. Women from Russia won the last three Olympic titles and went one-two at the last two Games.

This past season, Petrosian was the only senior women’s singles skater in the world to land both a clean quadruple jump and a clean triple Axel in competition, according to Skatingscores.com. She did so in domestic Russian competitions only given the ban.

Petrosian joins the early list of Olympic medal contenders that also includes Americans Alysa Liu and Amber Glenn, who won the two biggest international events last season (worlds for Liu, Grand Prix Final for Glenn).

Gumennik, 23, won a Russian men’s singles event in February with six clean quads between two programs.

American Ilia Malinin was the only man to land more than six quads at March’s World Championships (eight, two negatively graded) en route to a repeat title. Silver medalist Mikhail Shaidorov of Kazakhstan also landed six quads at worlds.

A Russian men’s singles skater last won a medal in 2010, but Gumennik is one of several early Olympic medal contenders along with the favorite Malinin, Shaidorov and 2022 Olympic silver medalist Yuma Kagiyama of Japan.

A pairs’ team from Russia or the Soviet Union has won at least one medal at 14 of the last 16 Olympics, including 13 golds. As of now, there will be no pairs’ team from Russia at the Milan Cortina Games.

The same goes for ice dance, where a couple from Russia or the Soviet Union won at least one medal at 12 of the 13 Olympics the event has been held.

The ISU previously said that skaters from Russia were not eligible for the Olympic team event.

The U.S. cruised past rival Japan in a competition that’s similar to the Olympic team event.

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