The minimum age to participate in senior competitions will increase to 17 from the 2024-2025 season. The move comes four months after a doping case at the Beijing Winter Olympics involving 15-year-old Russian Kamila Valieva.
At 15, do you have the mental strength to take part in a competition like the Olympics? The International Skating Federation (ISU) has decided not. Four months after the Kamila Valieva case, the body decided to raise the minimum age for figure skaters to 17 instead of the current 15 to participate in senior competitions.
“It’s a historic decision”said federation president Jan Dijkema as the reform was endorsed by delegates from 100 countries at the ISU Congress in Phuket, Thailand. This change will apply in two phases. The minimum age will increase to 16 during the 2023-2024 season, then to 17 from 2024-2025. Skaters currently aged 15 will therefore not be affected.
A debate revived during the Olympic Games
The debate on the very young age of skaters – and especially skaters – had resurfaced in February during the Olympic Games (OG) in Beijing. During these, the young Kamila Valieva found herself at the heart of a doping case raising several questions. This 15-year-old athlete had tested positive for trimetazidine, a molecule that promotes blood circulation and has been banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency since 2014. Her participation in the women’s figure skating event was then suspended.
But the day before the competition, the Court of Arbitration for Sport finally authorized the young skater and great favorite for the title to participate. The media storm that this decision caused, however, put a lot of pressure on her: Kamila Valieva collapsed during the free program. She had fallen twice during her performance and finished fourth in the final standings. Following this disappointment, she had described herself as “emotionally tired”.
The ISU pointed out that raising the age limit had been on its agenda long before the Valieva case, but the latter surely helped to ratify this decision. The federation also recognized that it was its duty to preserve the health of young sportswomen.