Russia cried foul Friday after the International Skating Union voted to raise the minimum age at which figure skaters can compete internationally to 17 from 15. The move is designed to prevent a repeat of the controversy that marred this year’s Beijing Winter Olympics when anti-doping chiefs were unable to take action against the 15-year-old Russian Kamila Valieva, who had failed a drug test in the run-up, because she was too young to take formal responsibility. The decision to raise the age threshold was taken after rowdy debate at the ISU congress in Phuket, Thailand, where it was passed by 100 votes to 16—with Russia’s delegate voting against. Valieva was the product of Moscow’s most successful figure-skating factory, which has churned out a succession of ever-younger female champions. Russian coach Tatiana Tarasova complained that the rule change was a blatant attempt to end Russian domination of the sport. But Eric Radford, who was 33 when he won pairs gold for Canada at the 2018 Winter Olympics, told the meeting young skaters needed to be protected. “The life of an athlete is short and intense, their experience in this short phase sets the platform for the rest of their lives—physically, spiritually emotionally... Is a medal really worth the life of a young athlete?”
