Russian Skaters Allowed to Compete as Neutrals (AIN) to Qualify for 2026 Winter Olympics

[PRlady]

TSL is live - "Russia is Back with Maya Bagriantseva": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x0PA2Ye4h3M

I’ve never watched TSL before. Ever. I get more informed commentary here.

Maya says Zhulin, Tarasova etc need media training. People who don’t know what that consists of are always thinking it is a solution. Not in this universe.

 

[caseyedwards]

If you'll read and comprehend the very first post in this thread, you'll see the ISU is referring to them as Individual Neutral Athletes.

If you read the post I was responding to you will see a link to a picture of skaters with Putin and no one is calling them neutral. They are banned from being neutral

 

[Theatregirl1122]

This is good. Russian skaters aren't Putin, and they need to be in the sport.

They NEED to?? Um. No.

 

[Theatregirl1122]

So even if Ilia lives in a Russian ex-pat community, it's not a guarantee he'd do more than just laugh this off.

Why would anyone even lightly imagine he’d do anything but laugh his ass off either way? He’s a world champ for the US. He’s not sone rando with no other way to make it to the Olympics. This is a silly idea.

 

[Wyliefan]

Why would anyone even lightly imagine he’d do anything but laugh his ass off either way? He’s a world champ for the US. He’s not sone rando with no other way to make it to the Olympics. This is a silly idea.

As I said, we were just being silly.

 

[tony]

Kolesnik has a full-out post now with photos of the offenders.

vadymkolesnik on Instagram: "I would like to express my concern and to advocate for the exclusion of Russia from the Olympic qualifying series. This request is grounded in two significant issues: the ongoing war in Ukraine and the persistent doping s

1,064 likes, 237 comments - vadym____kolesnik on December 20, 2024: "I would like to express my concern and to advocate for the exclusion of Russia from the Olympic qualifying series. This request is grounded in two significant issues: the ongoing war in Ukraine and the persistent doping...

www.instagram.com

 

[Rukia]

Kolesnik has a full-out post now with photos of the offenders.

vadymkolesnik on Instagram: "I would like to express my concern and to advocate for the exclusion of Russia from the Olympic qualifying series. This request is grounded in two significant issues: the ongoing war in Ukraine and the persistent doping s

1,064 likes, 237 comments - vadym____kolesnik on December 20, 2024: "I would like to express my concern and to advocate for the exclusion of Russia from the Olympic qualifying series. This request is grounded in two significant issues: the ongoing war in Ukraine and the persistent doping...

www.instagram.com

good for him and if the isu needs more help I'm sure he's willing to assist with this (and they should pay him for his time too)

 

[muffinplus]

Kolesnik has a full-out post now with photos of the offenders.

vadymkolesnik on Instagram: "I would like to express my concern and to advocate for the exclusion of Russia from the Olympic qualifying series. This request is grounded in two significant issues: the ongoing war in Ukraine and the persistent doping s

1,064 likes, 237 comments - vadym____kolesnik on December 20, 2024: "I would like to express my concern and to advocate for the exclusion of Russia from the Olympic qualifying series. This request is grounded in two significant issues: the ongoing war in Ukraine and the persistent doping...

www.instagram.com

I think several of the skaters from that show have said they were not told it was going to be a pro-war propaganda show...i.e. Tuktamysheva/Boikova/Kozlovski

 

[Lanie]

Absolutely disgusting but not surprising at all.

'Neutral' my ass. Between the doping and war Russia needs to be gone from sports for good.

 

[skateboy]

They NEED to?? Um. No.

Umm... YES.

 

[A.H.Black]

I'm wondering if any of this will apply to Worlds. I'm assuming not.

I also wonder if anything will change if the war is over by, say, June.

 

[Karen-W]

I'm wondering if any of this will apply to Worlds. I'm assuming not.

I also wonder if anything will change if the war is over by, say, June.

No. The ISU Council does not have another meeting scheduled until Worlds, so there will be no RUS/BLR skaters competing this season.

 

[ChelleC]

I'm wondering if any of this will apply to Worlds. I'm assuming not.

I also wonder if anything will change if the war is over by, say, June.

No this is strictly for the Olympic Qualifying Event and the Olympics. They aren't admitted to any other ISU events.

 

[Theatregirl1122]

Umm... YES.

Really? Please explain in what way figure skating is a need?


And I’m assuming you think that Ukrainian skaters don’t NEED to skate without having to shake hands with people who publicly support blowing up their homes? That’s too much to ask, I guess.

 

[skateboy]

Really? Please explain in what way figure skating is a need?


And I’m assuming you think that Ukrainian skaters don’t NEED to skate without having to shake hands with people who publicly support blowing up their homes? That’s too much to ask, I guess.

Most of the skaters have not publicly supported the war and are not guilty of doping. I think it's a great shame that they are not allowed to compete, that's all.

 

[alj5]

I'm wondering if any of this will apply to Worlds. I'm assuming not.

I also wonder if anything will change if the war is over by, say, June.

Or the end of January once there is a change in US leadership...

 

[On My Own]

I don't think there's any reason to document ALL the skaters who did anything related to pro-war propaganda, fwiw, because it's 100% possible they didn't know what they were doing. The major ones like Kondratiuk, Galliamov, Valieva are fair game, though.

 

[PRlady]

I don't think there's any reason to document ALL the skaters who did anything related to pro-war propaganda, fwiw, because it's 100% possible they didn't know what they were doing. The major ones like Kondratiuk, Galliamov, Valieva are fair game, though.

Maya B made the point today that the medalists had to attend that ceremony with Putin, Scher got out of it but it’s really obligatory, and that Galliamov wasn’t pro-war. FWIW. She and Dave agreed that Tukt was the logical choice politically but that she couldn’t get into competition shape by February when names must be submitted.

 

[On My Own]

Then it makes even less sense to document it, if even Galliamov isn't pro war.

 

[Wyliefan]

and that Galliamov wasn’t pro-war.

Isn't he sanctioned by Ukraine for being pro-war?

 

[PRlady]

Isn't he sanctioned by Ukraine for being pro-war?

I don’t know. Just reporting what I heard on the first and probably only time I listened to TSL. Because Maya knows stuff.

 

[Karen-W]

Or the end of January once there is a change in US leadership...

Even if some sort of peace deal were to be announced by the end of January or mid-February, that would be after the last competitions were held for skaters to achieve CTES mins. I don't know that I think the ISU or IOC will move THAT quickly to allow RUS/BLR back into international competition - especially because there are some problematic skaters who have been pro-war. The deadline for Worlds entries is Feb 26th. I suspect the ISU will just go with a "RUS/BLR are allowed back in on July 1, 2025" if there is a peace deal anytime within the next 6 months.

I don't think there's any reason to document ALL the skaters who did anything related to pro-war propaganda, fwiw, because it's 100% possible they didn't know what they were doing. The major ones like Kondratiuk, Galliamov, Valieva are fair game, though.

Valieva is definitely not going to be allowed. She's not eligible to compete at the OQE due to the doping ban. Kondratiuk also isn't going to be eligible because of his clear ties to the Russian military. Galliamov is a little more interesting. I was under the impression he'd made some pro-war statements early on, but...

Interesting TSL live today with Maia. She seems very certain that, apart from that Plushenko show in Tula in April 2022 and the Olympic medalists meet & greet with Putin post-Beijing, Mishina/Galliamov have been very neutral about the war. She and DL both compared that post-Beijing Putin meet & greet to the US Olympic team visits to the White House and she mentioned those have been a routine thing for Russian athletes for several Olympic cycles now, which I believe is accurate. In that regard, and knowing it's a pretty common thing in many countries for the Olympic delegations to have a congratulatory gathering with their head of state - at the White House, Buckingham Palace, etc, it seems fair to conclude the ISU & IOC will not view that as an explicit pro-war action.

With respect to the Tula show as well as skaters who participate in any Navka, Averbukh or Plushenko shows... Maia noted, as I did earlier on both X and here - the ISU docs do NOT mention show participation as a disqualifier. She also stated that almost all ice shows in Russia receive some sort of government grant - but that these grants aren't necessarily tied to the military. I'm with DL in thinking that it's a stretch to claim that taking Navka's money is not explicitly profiting from the war, etc, but I suppose the argument could be made that those tours existed prior to the war, etc. Either way, the ISU docs don't mention shows, so one has to think that unless the show had explicit pro-war group numbers, etc, then it's not going to be a problem.

Isn't he sanctioned by Ukraine for being pro-war?

All of the skaters who participated in the Tula show are sanctioned by Ukraine, even the ones who publicly disavowed it right away because it was turned into a pro-war rally by Plushenko at the last minute and the skaters were basically told they'd be in breach of their contract if they didn't participate. Tuktamysheva and Boikova/Kozlovskii came out within hours of the show's conclusion explaining that the pro-war rally part had been sprung on them at the last minute. It's my belief that those skaters who disavowed the pro-war rally immediately afterwards and who have not expressed any pro-war sentiments at all are going to be fine.

There are other issues for Tukt and BoiKoz, though.

BoiKoz are with Team Eteri and there's the question of what exactly constitutes "association with a person who has received a doping violation finding." Is it enough of a taint that they're at Eteri's rink and that, up until last February, Valieva was training there also? It's certainly going to be an issue for everyone applying as "Support Personnel". Maia & DL didn't get into the double standard that exists with Eteri being allowed to coach Egadze or Grassl being allowed to compete after going to Eteri in 2023. BoiKoz's other challenge is that they were really messy at RusNats and, to paraphrase Maia, were basically gifted the silver after a terrible SP & less than perfect FS. At best, BoiKoz are probably going to the be the Substitute nominee while MishGal are the AIN nominee.

Tukt is not in competition shape - she's been doing shows - and her 3A seems to be MIA. She'd be the best choice, PR-wise, but the question is whether or not she'd be competitive for a medal. Right now, she's definitely NOT. Could she get in shape by next fall and, more importantly, remain in shape through Feb 2026? She's already 28, so, that's another factor to consider. It would, though, be a great story for the women's discipline to have Kaori, Amber, Liza & Loena competing in Milano-Cortina.

Other women who are options - Adelia Petrosian - probably not because she's Team Eteri, plus she's at that age where the quads & 3As start to disappear for skaters who acquired those elements in their early teens. Anna Frolova is coached by Rukavitsin and doesn't have the potential doping association to drag her down, plus having a coach who has been interacting & maintaining relationships with the international skating community & successfully coached Gubanova to a Euros title with a different style/approach to skating than Team Eteri's jumping bean/frantic choreo may make Frolova more appealing to western audiences. Alina Gorbacheva was the other woman discussed - also not part of a known pro-war supporter (Plushenko) or dealing with a potential doping violation skating school.

Men - Flat out, Petr Gumennik should be the AIN nominee - he's with Moskvina's school & hasn't done or said anything remotely pro-war - in fact, I got the distinct impression from Maia without her saying it, that he's actually anti-war. He also has had coaching from Raf, so there's a positive relationship there to his advantage. The only other man she mentioned was Vladislav Dikidzhi, another St Petersburg skater. She thought the potential of a 4A faceoff between Ilia & Vladislav could be good marketing. Seems like those two are the leading options for the men.

Ice Dance - Zhulin is highly problematic and isn't going to be approved as Support Personnel for any team. Stepanova/Bukin... She didn't seem to rule them out completely - the federal speech they attended last spring is akin to the US' State of the Union, which often features guests from all walks of life in the gallery, for both Republicans & Democrats trying to score political points. Their other problem is that Bukin was denied accreditation for the 2018 Olympics due to the unspecified potential doping issue. There was no discussion of Khudaiberdieva/Bazin - I've seen some discussion on X that her dad is either high up in the military or a military contractor that's earned a LOT of $$ from the war. If that's the case, she's probably not going to be approved since she's clearly benefiting from military spending. It seems like the next three teams may be the ones vying for the AIN & substitute spots - Khavronina/Naryzhnyy, Kaganovskaya/Nekrasov and Pasechnik/Cirisano.

 

[On My Own]

Nika Egadze is with Team Eteri, even if not Russian.

Anyway, I don't have much to say apart from how there's now only a sliver of a chance I bother with watching Milano.

 

[Karen-W]

Nika Egadze is with Team Eteri, even if not Russian.

No kidding. It's been mentioned a lot on X today. It's one of the reasons why there are questions about exactly what the ISU means in rejecting anyone with a known association to someone with a doping violation. It's impossible to say what will happen, but the ISU/IOC may be willing to overlook that coaching relationship because he does represent Georgia whereas Russia had an entire doping scheme for Sochi and then the Valieva debacle in Beijing. Taking a harder stance with any skater wanting AIN status may be yet another response to the lingering anger over what appears to be a rather laissez-faire approach to doping violations in Russian sports culture.

 

[kwanfan1818]

Isn't the Georgian national -ADA responsible for his drug testing? Georgia isn't under suspicion of a national doping campaign and their doping agency isn't under special scrutiny.

 

[Karen-W]

Isn't the Georgian national -ADA responsible for his drug testing? Georgia isn't under suspicion of a national doping campaign and their doping agency isn't under special scrutiny.

I think the national ADA agency in the country where you train is the point of contact/responsible for testing, but I'm not 100% positive on that. @MacMadame may have a better understanding of how the logistics work when an athlete trains in a different country than they represent.

 

[MacMadame]

I think the national ADA agency in the country where you train is the point of contact/responsible for testing, but I'm not 100% positive on that. @MacMadame may have a better understanding of how the logistics work when an athlete trains in a different country than they represent.

No, I'm familiar with what I'm required to do for myself and my events so it's all US athletes competing in the US. Sorry.

Umm... YES.

No one is entitled to participate in IOC-sanctioned sports. That's how elite sport works.

 

[TAHbKA]

I don't understand the ISU decision. I can't imagine subjecting Shmuratko or Ukrainian coaches to share a space with someone like Zhulin. What have chamged? Have the war stopped? If not - what is the difference now?

On the other hand going through the skates' social media and disqualifying based on that sounds insane. They have a right to be idiots and what's the point having a national competition if at the end of the day the skaters are selected by their social media posts and not by their skating? Let's have Flores forever represent the USA - she has more followers! It's good for the sport!

The WADA part is an ISU tap on a shoulder for themselves - there was never a lab in Belarus, Russian labs were closed in what? 2015? And never reopened. The rest of the conditions sound equally moronic.

 

[Karen-W]

I don't understand the ISU decision. I can't imagine subjecting Shmuratko or Ukrainian coaches to share a space with someone like Zhulin. What have chamged? Have the war stopped? If not - what is the difference now?

Zhulin's never going to be approved as a coach at the Olympics under these restrictions. Neither will Plushenko. Both of them have been far too supportive of the war.

 

[Finnice]

I love figure skating, but this ISU decision makes me puke.

It is, of course, wise to have the qualification with the "neutral" skaters from RUS and Belarus in China instead of Germany. Some of us might have gone and protested, if held in Oberstdorf.