U.S. skeleton racer Katie Uhlaender's last chance to make the Olympic field may have been lost Monday, with the Court of Arbitration for Sport saying it lacks the jurisdiction to change the result of a race that could have earned her a berth in the Milan Cortina Games.
Uhlaender — a five-time Olympian — wanted CAS, the court said, to determine if Canada's skeleton coach manipulated a race result by pulling four racers out of a North American Cup event in Lake Placid, New York, on Jan. 11. Canada's move made fewer rankings points available in that race, and Uhlaender fell short of qualifying for the Olympics.
The International Bobsled and Skeleton Federation had already decided that no rules were broken, and the International Olympic Committee deferred to 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 Games can only resolve disputes that happen within 10 days of the start of those Olympics — meaning Jan. 27 or later. The race in question happened Jan. 11 and the IBSF's appeal tribunal rendered its decision on Jan. 23.
“Consequently, the application fell outside the jurisdiction,” CAS wrote.
Kelly Curtis and Mystique Ro will represent the U.S. in the women's skeleton event at the Olympics.
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CAS also has decided that an appeal filed by Ireland's luge team against the International Luge Federation cannot go forward for the same reason — that it doesn't fall into the 10-day window around the games.
Ireland argued that Elsa Desmond — an Olympian in 2022 — was “unlawfully deprived ... of a qualifying place for the 2026 OWG by failing to allocate a remaining qualification place and unlawfully allocating qualification places to athletes granted Individual Neutral Athlete (AIN) status.” It also said the two sliders from Russia who were given those AIN designations did not meet all qualifications for an Olympic spot.
The IOC granted 106 spots for luge athletes at these games, across all disciplines. All 106 spots are taken, but only by 105 athletes. Austrian slider Wolfgang Kindl qualified in both men’s singles and men’s doubles, and some athletes have argued that should have cleared a path for a 106th athlete.
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