Lithuania removes Estonian skating coach from Winter Olympics team
Lithuania's Winter Olympics team has removed an Estonian ice skating coach from its roster on the eve of the figure skating events in Milano Cortina.
Raimo Reinsalu had been accredited for the Games as the coach of Lithuanian figure skater Meda Variakojyte.
He has faced charges of mental and physical abuse of athletes, however. Around a fortnight before the Milano Cortina Games got underway, figure skating news portal AnythingGOEs wrote that Latvian authorities had, at the end of last year, launched an investigation into Reinsalu.
Two-time Latvian figure skating champion Sofja Stepcenko last August publicly accused Reinsalu and another coach, Olga Kovalkova, of abuse. Stepcenko, then 18, told the AnythingGOEs portal that Kovalkova and Reinsalu had been manipulative and had forced her to compete while injured, while constant pressure to lose weight had led to eating disorders, self-harm and a diagnosis of depression.
Delfi's Lithuanian-language portal reported the Lithuanian Olympic Committee had only learned of the allegations just ahead of the start of the Games. The committee then consulted with Variakojyte, her father, the Latvian Olympic Committee and the ISU. While the athlete and her family themselves had no complaints about Reinsalu, the International Skating Union (ISU) recommended on Saturday that his accreditation be suspended.
The Lithuanian Olympic Committee did so, and the following day the ISU confirmed that it had imposed a provisional ban from participation in sport on Reinsalu.
Reinsalu has appealed the decision.
In September 2025, the ISU removed Reinsalu from his position as a technical specialist at the Baku Junior Grand Prix, following the allegations.
He also coaches Fedirs Kuliss, a member of Latvia's Olympic team.
The figure skating events are already underway at the Winter Games.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte, Anders Nõmm
