Russian figure skaters receive IOC approval to compete in the Winter Olympics

LAUSANNE, Switzerland — Three figure skaters from Russia and Belarus, including Olympic gold medal prospects, were approved by the IOC on Thursday to compete neutrally at the Milan Cortina Winter Games in February.

Among them is 18-year-old Adelia Petrosyan, who showed her potential to win a medal in the women’s singles event while winning the Olympic qualifying event in Beijing in September.

Petr Gamnik, the Russian singles champion, won the men’s event in Beijing two months ago and was fourth behind Belarus’ Victoria Safonova Petroshyn. They also have approved neutral status, the International Olympic Committee said.

The Beijing qualifying event was the first time the Russians were allowed by the International Skating Union to compete in its figure skating event since a full-scale military invasion of Ukraine began in 2022 – just four days after the Beijing Olympics ended.

The IOC is conducting its own investigation into approving Russian and Belarusian athletes for neutral status to compete in Milan Cortina, as it did before the 2024 Paris Summer Games.

To be eligible, individual players must not have actively supported the invasion of Ukraine nor have ties to the Russian or Belarusian military and state security agencies.

Figure skaters must also accept their individual invitations and sign a commitment to respect the Olympic Charter, the IOC said.

Petrosyan is the latest star skater to be trained by coach Etiri Totbridz, who was a controversial figure at the Beijing Olympics.