MILAN — An international sports tribunal on Monday ruled it lacks jurisdiction to intervene in the case of Katie Uhlaender, an American skeleton racer denied a sixth Olympic bid by an alleged Canadian point-rigging scheme.
This ruling, issued by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), dooms Uhlaender's fight to compete at the Milan Cortina Games. In a statement, a CAS panel said the dispute fell outside the time window during which it holds sway over sports disputes related to the Olympics.
"The results of...qualification places for the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 remain unchanged," CAS officials said.
In a statement sent to NPR after the decision, Uhlaender said she is "disappointed that nothing is being done again. I am currently exploring options. But I am fighting for the right thing, as this action hurt a whole field of athletes," she added.
A race in Lake Placid, an alleged point-rigging scheme
This latest Olympic sports scandal began at a race on Jan. 11, when Uhlaender, a veteran of five Winter Games, showed up at the sled track in Lake Placid, N.Y. It was her final shot to win enough points to qualify for Milan Cortina.
Uhlaender told NPR that just before the make-or-break competition began, she received a text message from the head coach of Canada's skeleton team, Joe Cecchini. The message said he had bad news for her.
The text was concerning enough that when Cecchini called, Uhlaender arranged to record their phone conversation. In that recording, shared with NPR, Cecchini appears to be laying out a plan to manipulate the point system used by sledders to qualify for the Olympic Games.
"We've had some crazy races that have not gone our way this year," Cecchini is heard saying. "And I'm like, I can just eliminate any possibilities here."
Here's how Uhlaender says Cecchini's point manipulation scheme worked. Athletes competing in Lake Placid were awarded qualifying points depending on how well they raced. Uhlaender was lightning fast that week. She rocketed headfirst on her sled down the winding ice-covered track.
But under international rules, the points awarded to each athlete drop dramatically if fewer athletes compete. At the last minute, Cecchini withdrew four of the Canadian team's six female skeleton sledders. When that happened, and despite her dominant performance, Uhlaender received far fewer points.
NPR reached out repeatedly to Cecchini and his Canadian team requesting an interview. Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton instead sent a series of statements, describing Cecchini's decisions in Lake Placid as "appropriate, transparent, and aligned with both athlete welfare and the integrity of the sport."
Uhlaender sidelined despite concerns about "unfair" treatment
But a probe by the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation — the organization that governs skeleton racing — backed up Uhlaender's allegations that Cecchini had deliberately gamed the point system. In its findings, the federation determined Cecchini "became concerned that Canada might lose an overall Olympic quota spot if non-Canadian athletes in Lake Placid performed well."
In order to prevent that from happening, officials say, Cecchini benched his sledders in a way that was "intentional and directed to reducing the points available to athletes."
In a letter to the International Olympic Committee, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee also concluded that Uhlaender had been sidelined from the Olympic Games due to "unfair actions taken at Lake Placid."
But while a growing number of sports officials say the system was manipulated, they have declined to intervene. There have been no sanctions for Canada by any international sports body. With Monday's procedural ruling by CAS, Uhlaender's options for racing in the 2026 Winter Games now appear exhausted.
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