U.S. skeleton athlete Katie Uhlaender claims she has been robbed of a chance to qualify for the 2026 Winter Olympic Games.
Uhlaender, 41, was hoping to be the first woman to compete in the Winter Games six times for the U.S., but fell just short of qualifying for the Olympic team.
She said a decision by Canadian coaches to pull four of their sliders out of a North American Cup (NAC) race held earlier this month was unfair, since it lowered the total standings points available in that event. Uhlaender won that race but only received 90 points instead of the usual 120, leaving her 18 points away from qualifying for the U.S. team.
The International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF) — the governing body for the sport — investigated Canada’s decision and motivation for its move. They acknowledged that “the late withdrawal of athletes intuitively gives rise to concern that the action may have constituted impermissible manipulation,” but found no rules were broken.
Here’s everything you need to know about Uhlaender’s claims and appeals on the decision.
What Uhlaender is saying
Uhlaender won the North American Cup race in Lake Placid, N.Y., on Jan.11, which had 19 sliders. She received 25 per cent fewer ranking points than she would have in a full field. That point difference left her behind the U.S.’ Mystique Ro in the final standings.
The NAC series is a tier below World Cup level and tends to be a place for developmental athletes to compete. Uhlaender competed in seven races this season on the NAC and Asian Cup circuits — another lower-tier series — in an effort to collect enough points to make the Olympic team after failing to make this season’s U.S. World Cup roster.
Uhlaender did not qualify for the U.S. World Cup team entering this season and decided to appeal the decision by international officials.
She asked the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for a wild-card berth into the Olympic women’s skeleton field, which currently has a maximum of 25 sliders, including two from the U.S.
Uhlaender said she made the ask with the help of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee, which said it had requested she receive a discretionary spot on the field.
“Had this race not been manipulated, I would be preparing to represent the United States of America and make history as the first woman to compete in six Olympic Winter Games for our country,” Uhlaender said in a statement on Jan. 24. “Instead, I am now focused on legally challenging what I believe to be a fundamentally flawed investigation and decision by the IBSF in a final attempt to earn my place at what would be my sixth and last Olympic Games.”
Uhlaender said that she’s looking for the IOC to be “fair.”
“Doing so would protect the integrity of competition and prevent further harm,” she said. “Such action would send a powerful message to young athletes everywhere: that standing up for ethics and integrity may be difficult, but it matters.”
In a video published on Jan. 24, Uhlaender claimed the Canadian team “pulled their athletes to reduce the points” in the NAC race.
“By Canada pulling their athletes, it hurt all of us,” she said. “If the points were awarded, I’d be going to the Olympics.”
Uhlaender said she was “hoping to qualify” for the Olympics.
“I’m a five-time Olympian. I love my country and I love sport,” she added.
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After seeing the Canadian sliders get pulled out of the race, Uhlaender reflected on what she would have done as a younger competitor.
“When I’ve experienced things that were wrong, I would look to the administration or the adults in the room to say something,” she recalled. “You get a feeling that this doesn’t feel right and somebody’s exploiting the rules and bad faith and this shouldn’t have happened. It doesn’t seem right. Why can’t I race?”
Uhlaender said she thought it was her “duty as an American Olympian and someone that believes in doing the right thing to say something.”
In a follow-up post, Uhlaender said her appeal is “about the integrity of sport and code of ethics that upholds sportsmanship, fair play, integrity, respect and community.”
“This isn’t about me, we have 11 Nations who support this and counting. Even some Canadian athletes. I hope that you can find it in your heart to see beyond hate and actually see how my sport as a community is coming together on this,” she wrote in response to an X user.
The head of Denmark’s skeleton team told The Atlantic they would help Uhlaender “bring all details to this matter to daylight.” Uhlaender has also received support from the federations of Israel, Malta, the Virgin Islands, South Korea and Belgium.
Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton withdrew athletes ‘after careful evaluation’
Canada’s decision to keep four of its six NAC sliders out of the race earlier this month has been criticized by Uhlaender.
If the North American Cup race in question had at least 21 sliders, which would have been the case before Canada decided to hold some racers out, Uhlaender claims that she might have earned a spot on the Olympic team.
Canadian coaches, athletes and sports officials have denied any wrongdoing.
Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton (BCS) said the decision to withdraw athletes was made “after careful evaluation of the program’s needs and in consultation with the IBSF.”
“Following a collective assessment by the coaching and performance team, it was determined that continuing to race these athletes was not in their best interests, nor in the best interests of the program,” the organization said.
BCS also said the decision was made after “careful consideration of athlete health, safety, and long-term development.”
Canadian skeleton racers Madeline Parra, 18, and Brielle Durham, 21, told The Canadian Press that they were comfortable with their coach’s decision to pull them from the race.
Parra and Durham said the reasons given for their withdrawal were due to athlete welfare and enhancing Canada’s chances of more than one woman sliding in the Olympic Games.
“They had come over and explained to us that it would be in the best interest for the way points had worked for Jane (Channell), so that we as a team can qualify two spots to the Olympics,” said Parra.
Durham said that she had crashed in the second of three races in Lake Placid.
“There are also mental and physical aspects that had to be evaluated on my end with my coaches about sliding,” said Durham. “It was for the team, but on a personal discussion I had with the coaches, there were also other reasons like my health and how I would handle the following week following my first crash.”
Durham also said she was “absolutely comfortable and happy” with the decision of her coaches.
There will be 25 women in the women’s skeleton field at the Olympics next month — two countries will get three entries, four countries will have two entries and 11 other nations will get one.
International Olympic Committee ruling
The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee asked last week for Uhlaender to get a spot, citing how her qualifying chances were hurt by Canada’s decision to pull four sliders from a race and limit the available number of rankings points earlier this month.
USOPC chief of sport and athlete services Rocky Harris said the IOC deferred to the IBSF’s investigation, finding that no rules were broken.
“We got a response this morning that they are supporting the international federation’s decision on the matter,” Harris told The Associated Press on Jan. 26.
IBSF previously said it “requested its Interim Integrity Unit to investigate whether the described incident is a competition manipulation, a breach of the Code of Ethics or the Code of Conduct.”
“The late withdrawal caused complaints from International Bobsleigh & Skeleton Federation (IBSF) members and allegations of a potential competition manipulation by BCS, particularly its coach, as it resulted in a reduction of ranking points for all participants to 75% instead of 100%, potentially supporting allegations that Canada was aiming to secure a second quota place at the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026,” IBSF wrote.
The IBSF requested its Interim Integrity Unit (IIU) investigate whether the incident was “a competition manipulation, a breach of the Code of Ethics or the Code of Conduct.”
“The IIU dismissed the complaints as the current IBSF Rules and Regulations did not give grounds for a breach of the International Rules, the Code of Conduct, and respectively the Code of Ethics, by the concerned coach or BCS,” the report added.
“The IIU noted that the Canadian coach and the National Federation shall be reminded that, whilst acting within the letter of the IBSF Code of Conduct, it is expected that all parties concerned should also act within the spirit of the Code, whose aim is to promote fair play and ethical conduct at all times,” IBSF wrote.
The IIU noted that “late withdrawal” of athletes “intuitively gives rise to concern that the action may have constituted impermissible manipulation.”
“At the same time, the express language of Section 7 of the IBSF Code of Ethics precludes any finding that conduct ‘expressly permitted’ by the competition rules is ‘improper’ or creates an ‘undue benefit.’ As a consequence, the IIU dismisses the complaints,” the IIU added in the report.
Uhlaender said Monday she is exploring options for filing with the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which deals with all sorts of issues within global sports.
The Americans are sending Kelly Curtis and Ro to the Olympics in women’s skeleton; both were formally nominated to the team by the USOPC on Monday.
“We were requesting an additional slot for the sport to allocate to Katie, so it would not have taken away from one of our currently competing athletes,” Harris said.
Bob Barney, an Olympic expert and historian and professor emeritus at Western University, can’t recall this happening at any previous Olympics.
“In my historical recollection/knowledge I don’t know any Olympic circumstance that fits this situation. It would seem to me, seeing as how she appealed to the IOC for redress, that if denied, she should perhaps appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport,” Barney told Global News.
Noah Vanderhoeven, a PhD candidate at Western University in political science, specializing in sports and social justice, said he doesn’t think what happened in Uhlaender’s case is “too common.”
“Generally, countries are responsible for filling their own Olympic slots for each sport they are interested in competing in, and Uhlaender was excluded by the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee,” Vanderhoeven told Global News. “The fact she was not included at that stage, nor was she a member of the U.S. World Cup team in skeleton, made her chances of competing in a sixth Olympics for the U.S. already unlikely.”
Vanderhoeven noted that there are likely “many cases of less prominent athletes in their sport narrowly missing out on discretionary places before each Olympic Games, but we do not hear about them because they have not competed in an Olympic Games yet.”
“What is quite interesting is how her standing as a multi-time Olympian in skeleton gave her the clout to get the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee to launch an appeal on her behalf and see her call for the help of U.S. Vice-President JD Vance,” Vanderhoeven said.
Uhlaender asks JD Vance to advocate for her
Uhlaender is asking U.S. Vice-President JD Vance, who is leading the U.S. delegation to Milan-Cortina, to help advocate for her participation.
“As U.S. Vice-President JD Vance is scheduled to meet with the leadership of the International Olympic Committee, I respectfully ask that he stand with me as an Olympian that has represented the United States of America and our values, the USOPC, and the many affected nations in supporting our request to IOC President Kirsty Coventry to use her authority to uphold fairness in Olympic sport by granting a wildcard entry,” Uhlaender told Fox News.
“Doing so would protect the integrity of competition and prevent further harm. Such action would send a powerful message to young athletes everywhere: that standing up for ethics and integrity may be difficult, but it matters.”
“If I could speak with JD Vance, I would ask if he would stand with me, the U.S. Olympic Committee, and many other nations,” she added in a post on X.
The 2026 Olympics will begin with opening ceremonies on Feb. 6. The women’s skeleton competition is set to take place on Feb. 13 and 14.
— With files from The Canadian Press and The Associated Press