After Russia’s ban, world figure skating medals up for grabs

By DAVE SKRETTA
AP Sports Writer

The top two women from the Beijing Olympics, Anna Shcherbakova and Alexandra Trusova, won’t be at the world figure skating championships this week in Montpellier, France. Neither will Kamila Valieva, the fourth-place finisher whose positive doping result casted a shadow over the entire Winter Games. That’s because all Russian skaters have been banned from competing by the International Skating Union, which followed the precedent set by other sports governing bodies following the country’s invasion of Ukraine. Figure skaters from Belarus also are barred from competition because of its alliance with Russia. The competition begins Wednesday.