An Olympian won't be able to compete in the upcoming 2026 Winter Olympics. And it's all due to her passport being delayed.
Figure skater Alisa Efimova won't be going to Milan to compete despite qualifying at the US Figure Skating Championships for the Winter Games. That's because Efimova isn't an American citizen, so she's having trouble with her passport.
Her husband, Misha Mitrofanov, discussed the issue.
"Yes, we didn't make it, but we don't see that as a failure," Mitrofanov said. "Hey, this was an opportunity. It may not have worked out. But so many great things have come from it that we are very happy moving forward."
Problem With Olympics
Although Mitrofanov was born in the US, Efimova was born in Finland. She has her green card, but won't be eligible for citizenship until later this year. The pair hoped to speed up the process to make the Olympics. However, that won't be the case for Efimova. US Figure Skating CEO Matt Farrell weighed in. He said, "There are sometimes rules ... and this is not the fun part."
So instead of the Olympics, the duo will compete in Beijing for the Four Continents competition. They will also compete in the world championships in Prague.
"Whenever we first started as a team, we didn't know whether or not the Olympics is even a possibility. We knew it was a long shot because of the paperwork," Mitrofanov said. "The more we progressed with our skating career, the closer we got to that opportunity."
"There were so many people who messaged us and reached out to us wanting to support us," he said. "So, for us, we're very grateful."
The duo are hopeful to compete in the 2030 Olympic Games in the French Alps.
"We're thinking about it," she said. "Four years is a very long time. For now, I think we're just thinking of how to approach the next season, because this situation, and after these nationals, it left us with some kind of hunger to make it.
"(If) we make it in four years to the Olympics, I think it would be even more valuable, even more precious," Efimova also said. "So that's definitely a motivation."
