MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian figure skater Mikhail Kolyada will miss next month’s Beijing Olympics after testing positive for COVID-19, the Russian Figure Skating Federation said on Tuesday.
“Mikhail Kolyada felt unwell a few days ago,” the federation said in a statement. “Before leaving for the training camp in Krasnoyarsk, Mikhail Kolyada underwent a PCR test, the result of which was positive.”
Kolyada, 26, will be replaced by 18-year-old Evgeny Semenenko, who finished fifth at the European championships this month.
Kolyada took eighth place at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics and won silver in the team event with his compatriots.
Russian athletes are barred from competing at major international events under their flag and with their anthem until December 2022 as part of doping sanctions.
At the Beijing Games, which run from Feb. 4-20, Russians will be competing as representatives of the Russian Olympic Committee under the acronym “ROC”.
(Reporting by Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
