Russian figure skater Adeliia Petrosian wins Olympic qualifier for Milan-Cortina
Russian figure skater Adeliia Petrosian is set to be a contender for the gold medal at next year’s Winter Olympics after winning the final qualifying event Saturday.
Skating as an Individual Neutral Athlete without national symbols, Petrosian beat two former European champions with a total score of 209.63 points in Beijing on Saturday, with a Michael Jackson-themed short program and Argentine tango-style free skate.
This week marks the first time that Russian figure skaters have taken part in international competitions since the 2022 Olympics.
The International Skating Union president defended its stance on allowing Russian skaters to compete as neutrals, in comments to The Associated Press ahead of Saturday’s free skate.
Jae Youl Kim said the ISU followed the International Olympic Committee’s approach which led to a limited number of Russians and Belarusians with neutral status at last year’s Summer Olympics in Paris.
“We feel really comfortable about the procedures and steps that we’ve taken,” Kim told The AP.
“In terms of reception, I have not spoken to athletes but, just looking at the fans, the fans just love watching good skating, regardless of where the skaters come from. And when any skaters perform well on the ice, the reception from the fans on the tribune is electrifying.”
Anastasiia Gubanova of Georgia, the 2023 European champion coming off a 28th-place finish at the world championships this year, was second on 206.23. Belgium’s Loena Hendrickx, 2024 European gold medalist coming back from injury, was third on 204.96. The top five spots are awarded places at the Milan-Cortina Olympics.
Another Russian skater is on track to qualify after Petr Gumennik led the men’s short program on Saturday. His free skate is on Sunday.
Under the neutral athlete rules, Petrosian gets an individual spot for the Games. Typically, skaters earn a spot for their country which can be transferred to another skater if the national federation sets its own qualification system, for example using the national championships as trials.
Neutral status
The ISU followed other Olympic sports bodies in excluding Russian skaters from its competitions following the Russian invasion of Ukraine shortly after the 2022 Olympics.
In December, it announced up a pathway for Russians to receive “Individual Neutral Athlete” status to compete without symbols like the national flag and anthem. Similar rules apply to skaters from Russia’s ally Belarus. Belarusian Viktoriia Safonova was fourth on Saturday.
The Russian skaters had to go through the final qualifying event in Beijing because most Olympic spots were awarded at last season’s world championships in Boston, where neutral athletes weren’t eligible.
Petrosian is the latest star skater trained by coach Eteri Tutberidze, whose skaters won women’s gold and silver at the last Winter Olympics in Beijing in 2022. Her other skater, Kamila Valieva, who was 15 at the time, was at the center of a doping case which overshadowed the Games. The ISU has raised the minimum age to 17 ahead of these Olympics.
No Russian pairs and ice dance
No Russian skaters took part in the pairs and ice dance events for the Olympic qualifiers, so they won’t compete at Milan-Cortina. Both events are historically strong competitions for Russia.
Reports in Russian media indicated the national federation’s preferred candidates did not pass an ISU-run vetting process, but the ISU hasn’t commented on individual cases.
The ISU process involved checking skaters’ public statements since 2022 for “any active support for the invasion of Ukraine or any contractual links to Russian or Belarusian military and other national security agencies.”
Also on Saturday, China’s Zhang Jiaxuan and Huang Yihang won the qualifying event in pairs skating.
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This story has been corrected. The “Individual Neutral Athlete” rules mean Petrosian’s Olympic place is for her as an individual athlete, not for her national skating federation.
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AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/winter-olympics
By JAMES ELLINGWORTH
AP Sports Writer
