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The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), the world’s highest court tasked with resolving disputes relating to international athletics, will hear American skeleton athlete Katie Uhlaender’s appeal for a place at the upcoming Milan Cortina Olympics.
Uhlaender is looking to qualify after missing the opportunity to qualify when Team Canada withdrew its athletes from the North America Cup earlier this month, reducing the number of points the event could award. The points reduction prevented Uhlaender from winning enough to qualify.
The CAS will now examine the case.
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“Ms. Uhlaender asks the CAS to determine whether BCS’s decision to withdraw four of its athletes from the IBSF North American Cup on January 11, 2026 constituted a violation of the Olympic Movement’s Code on the Prevention of Manipulation of Competitions, and whether BCS coaches violated the IBSF Code of Conduct,” the CAS said in a statement, according to Reuters.
The hearing is scheduled for Sunday morning.
An investigation by the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF) found that Team Canada intentionally manipulated points during the Lake Placid competition. However, the IBSF also failed to review the results or issue sanctions accordingly.
US OLYMPIAN EXPOSES AFTER TEAM CANADA WITHDRAWAL PREVENTS THEM FROM QUALIFYING FOR MILAN-CORTINA
Katie Uhlaender of the United States reacts after the second race of the women’s skeleton during the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics at the Olympic Sliding Center in Pyeongchang, South Korea, February 16, 2018. (Mark Ralston/AFP via Getty Images)
“Although Canada later attributed its decision to order four athletes not to slide in official training to concerns about the athletes involved, substantial evidence supports Ms. Uhlaender’s assertion that the decision was a deliberate effort by Canada to reduce the points available at the Lake Placid NAC final in order to protect its own Olympic quotas,” the IBSF said.
“Although the disqualification of an athlete and the annulment of results may have collateral impacts (other participants progressing in the official rankings, for example), the Olympic Movement Code does not define standards or means by which records in an event can be modified other than through sanctions,” the statement said.
The United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) sent a letter to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) requesting that Uhlaender be given a spot. Fifteen other countries joined this petition.
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Katie Uhlaender (United States) competes in the women’s skeleton event at the Pyeongchang 2018 Olympic Winter Games at the Olympic Sliding Center in Pyeongchang, South Korea, February 17, 2018. (James Lang/USA TODAY Sports)
Canadian national skeleton team coach Joe Cecchini defended the decision to remove the athletes earlier this month.
“It’s all within the rules. There’s nothing wrong with those things. And people can be strategic in the races they compete in. And she was doing it, and other nations were doing it, because you want to do your best,” Cecchini said. News from Radio-Canada. “It’s more of a flaw in the system. But we were within the rules.”
