Jan 24 (Reuters) – U.S. skeleton racer Katie Uhlaender has asked the IOC for a wildcard into the Winter Olympics after Canada’s skeleton team withdrew four athletes from a competition earlier this month, ending her bid for a sixth Games despite winning the race.
Due to the Canadian withdrawals from the races in Lake Placid, the field dropped to a size that reduced the number of ranking points available, ending Uhlaender’s qualification hopes for next month’s Milano Cortina Olympics.
“This request is not about special treatment. It is about preventing further damage and upholding the spirit and values of Olympic sport,” she said in a statement on Saturday.
Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton (BCS), which did not immediately respond to a request for comment, was cleared last week by the International Bobsleigh & Skeleton Federation (IBSF) of any wrongdoing after an investigation.
BCS said it withdrew the athletes out of safety concerns and recognised the move had an unintended impact on the size of the field.
Uhlaender said she will also ask the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to intervene in the case.
Uhlaender, a double world champion with an Olympic best of fourth in 2014, alleged that the BCS “manipulated” the race, impacting Olympic and World Cup qualification points for athletes from more than five nations.
(Reporting by Rory Carroll in Los Angeles; Editing by Ken Ferris)
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