Fifteen-year-old figure skaters will no longer be allowed to compete at the 2026 Olympics, the International Skating Union (ISU) announced Tuesday, following a controversy at this year's Beijing Games surrounding young Russian competitor Kamila Valieva.
The new age limit for figure skaters at senior international events was passed in a 110-16 ISU vote on Tuesday, raising the minimum age to 17 before the next Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.
The decision was not unanimous, with 100 countries voting in favor and 16 against. A two-thirds majority, 79 votes, was required for the motion to be passed.
"This is a very important decision,” ISU President Jan Dijkema said. "I would say a very historic decision.”
"The ISU Congress voted in favour of gradually increasing the age limit from 15 to 17 years for the sake of protecting the physical and mental health, and emotional well-being of skaters," the ISU wrote on Twitter.
The limit will be phased in with 16-year-olds allowed to compete in the 2023-24 season, rising to 17 the season after, which is the last before the Olympics.
The change was coming even before figure skating at the Beijing Olympics was dominated by the emotional stress put on the 15-year-old Valieva. She was the favorite to take individual gold, after helping the Russians win the team title, before her positive doping test from December was belatedly revealed during the Olympics.
The teenager was allowed to train under intense scrutiny as a Court of Arbitration for Sport hearing was prepared that allowed her to compete pending the full investigation in Russia. That is still ongoing.
However, her main routine was filled with errors and she dropped to fourth place. She was then criticized rink-side by her coach, Eteri Tutberidze.
The ISU drafted an age-limit proposal saying "burnout, disordered eating, and long-term consequences of injury” were a risk to young teenage skaters who are pushed to perform more quadruple jumps.
The governing body said it had "a duty of care to protect the physical and psychological health and safety of all athletes including elite adolescent athlete(s).”
