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Figure skating is one of the Winter Olympics' signature offerings. No event within its orbit carries more weight than its last — the women's singles.
Women's singles has long served a platform for the sport's finest talents to shine. From Katarina Witt's dominance with East Germany in the 1984 and 1988 Games to Tara Lipinski's triumphs in the 1998 tournament, the event is a memorable one, offering a spotlight for the sport's finest talents to flaunt their gifts.
The 2026 iteration of the competition is no exception. Ami Nakai, Kaori Sakamoto and Alysa Liu are some of the standouts who have captivated the masses thus far. So too has Adeliia Petrosian, an 18-year-old who could compete for a podium place.
When she takes to the ice, Petrosian sports an unfamiliar flag — one that includes the "AIN" abbreviation on it. Just what is Petrosian's country of origin? And why must she compete under the AIN banner? Here's what you need to know.
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What country is AIN?
"AIN" is the country code for "Individual Neutral Athletes", referred to as Athlètes Individuels Neutres in French. The team consists of Russian and Belarusian athletes who meet several criteria, one of which bars athletes who "actively support" Russia's ongoing war with Ukraine.
Russian athletes competed under the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) banner during the 2022 Winter Olympics, an aftershock of a doping scandal which brought about a two-year ban from all major sporting events.
Like FIFA and UEFA, the IOC swiftly moved to bar Russia and Belarus from international competition following Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. They've been inconsistent in their willingness to apply that tactic elsewhere: Israel has fielded teams for the 2024 Summer Olympics and 2026 Winter Olympics despite the country committing a genocide against Palestinians, as laid out by numerous human rights organizations, including Amnesty International, the United Nations and Human Rights Watch.
Twenty athletes are presently playing under the AIN banner, including Petrosian and Nikita Filippov, a Russian ski mountaineer who claimed silver in the men's sprint in 2026.
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Where is Adeliia Petrosian from?
Petrosian hails from Moscow. The 18-year-old is widely considered one of Russia's best skaters, capturing three Russian national championships and three Russian Grand Prix Final titles.
The 2026 Winter Olympics represents just the second time Petrosian has competed in a senior-level event outside of Russia since 2022. Her performances are artful and athletic, pockmarked by dizzying spins and quadruple jumps, the hardest skill to master in the sport.
Her inclusion on the AIN roster has made her the subject of some controversy. Petrosian has never tested positive for steroids or been implicated in doping. But the ROC had its 2022 team event gold medal stripped when one of Petrosian's training mates, then-15-year-old Kamila Valieva, tested positive for a banned substance thought to improve stamina and endurance.
Valieva served a four-year ban as a result of the alleged misdeed. The rest of her team — including coach Eteri Tutberidze and choreographer Daniil Gleikhengauz — were spared punishment. Gleikhengauz is Petrosian's coach at the 2026 Winter Olympics, while Tutberidze — officially serving as one of Georgia's figure skating coaches — reportedly accompanied Petrosian during practices, according to The New York Times.
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Why is Russian figure skater allowed to compete?
Petrosian satisfied the International Skating Union's requirements to return to competition as an unaffiliated athlete. The pathway required athletes to complete several steps. The IOC ruled that AIN athletes had to disavow Russia's war with Ukraine and "not have any ties to military agencies in their countries,", according to NBC.
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Last time Russian figure skater won Olympic medal
Russians have found plenty of success in the women's singles event in the Winter Olympics. They nearly swept the podium places in 2018 and 2022, taking gold and silver in each tournament. However, athletes were unable to perform under Russia's banner following the suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee amid the country's doping scandal.
The last time a Russian won a medal in the women's singles event while competing for Russia was in 2014, when Adelina Sotnikova outshined Japan's Yuna Kim and Italy's Carolina Kostner for the prize.
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