Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva faces a significant setback as the sport's governing body has revoked her neutral athlete status, barring her from international competition. The 20-year-old had made her return to the ice in January after serving a four-year doping ban but remains ineligible for the upcoming 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics.

Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russian athletes have been prohibited from competing under their national flag. Although the International Skating Union (ISU) allows for Russian competitors to participate as neutral athletes, Valieva's circumstances have changed.

Key points regarding Valieva's status include:

• The ISU initially granted her neutral status for the 2026-27 season.
• The decision was reversed due to her association with Russian military operations, as indicated by her social media presence, including a video featuring Vladimir Putin.
• Other Russian skaters, like Mark Kondratiuk, have also seen their statuses revoked.

Valieva gained notoriety at the 2022 Winter Olympics when she became the first female skater to land a quadruple jump, contributing to Russia's team gold. However, her glory was short-lived after it was revealed that she tested positive for the banned substance trimetazidine six weeks prior, leading to a Russian Anti-Doping Agency (Rusada) investigation.

Despite Rusada's conclusion that Valieva bore "no fault or negligence," the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) upheld an appeal by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), resulting in her and her team-mates being stripped of their gold medals. Her ban has been retroactively applied to the date of her positive test in December 2021.