itstargetnews
Listen to this article
Estimated 3 minutes
The audio version of this article was generated using artificial intelligence-based technology. Mistakes in pronunciation may occur. We work with our partners to constantly review and improve results.
Follow the Winter Olympic sportsPersonalize your feed
American skeleton runner Katie Uhlaender’s last chance to make the Olympic field may have been lost on Monday, as the Court of Arbitration for Sport said it had no jurisdiction to change the result of a race that could have earned her a place at the Cortina Games in Milan.
Uhlaender, a five-time Olympian, asked CAS, the court said, to determine whether the Canadian skeleton coach manipulated the outcome of the race by withdrawing four runners from the North American Cup event in Lake Placid, N.Y., on Jan. 11. Canada’s move allowed fewer ranking points in that race, and Uhlaender failed to qualify for the Olympics.
The International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation has already ruled that no rules were broken, and the International Olympic Committee has postponed that decision. So Uhlaender took her case to CAS and got a hearing on Sunday.
A day later, CAS said its division set up for the Milan-Cortina Winter Games can only resolve disputes that occur within 10 days of the start of those Olympics, meaning January 27 or later. The race in question was on January 11, and the IBSF appeals court made its decision on January 23.
“Consequently, the claim was out of jurisdiction,” CAS wrote.
Kelly Curtis and Mystique Ro will represent the USA in women’s skeleton at the Olympics.
CAS also ruled that a complaint filed by the Irish luge team against the International Luge Federation could not proceed for the same reason – that it did not fall within the 10-day window around the games.
Ireland claimed that Elsa Desmond, a 2022 Olympian, was “unlawfully deprived of … a qualifying place for the 2026 OWG by failing to allocate a remaining qualifying place and unlawfully awarding qualifying places to athletes who have been awarded Individual Neutral Athlete (AIN) status.” It was also said that the two skaters from Russia who received those AIN marks did not meet all the qualifications for an Olympic berth.
The IOC has allocated 106 places for lugers at these games, in all disciplines. All 106 places were taken, but only 105 athletes. Austrian figure skater Wolfgang Kindl qualified for both the men’s singles and men’s pairs, which some athletes argued should have cleared the way for the 106th athlete.
Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton is defending its decision to remove four athletes from competition after a coach was accused of deliberately sabotaging an American athlete who was trying to reach her sixth Olympic Games.
