Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva returned to competition on Saturday following her doping ban, making a statement with a quadruple jump nearly four years after disputes over her positive test overshadowed the Beijing Olympics.
The 19-year-old Valieva was skating in the quarterfinals of the Russian jumping championships in Moscow.
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Russian figure skater Alexandra Ignatova competes at the Russian Jumping Championships in Moscow, Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Pavel Bednyakov)
Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva competes at the Russian Jumping Championships in Moscow, Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Pavel Bednyakov)
Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva competes at the Russian Jumping Championships in Moscow, Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Pavel Bednyakov)
Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva warms up before competing at the Russian Jumping Championships in Moscow, Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Pavel Bednyakov)
She started with a quadruple toeloop jump to cheers from the crowd and qualified for Sunday's semifinals, as well as placing sixth in a “duets” jump event. The nationally televised event wasn't a typical skating competition, with points only for jumps.
Valieva cannot qualify for the Milan Cortina Olympics, where another Russian skater, Adeliia Petrosian, is a contender for the women's gold medal as an Individual Neutral Athlete.
Then aged 15, Valieva was at the center of a legal battle during the 2022 Beijing Games when a sample she gave two months earlier tested positive for the banned substance trimetazidine.
The revelation came after Valieva won team gold with other Russian skaters. She was later disqualified from that event, which upgraded the United States to gold. Valieva was a contender for the women's gold medal but placed fourth and was criticized rink-side by her coach, Eteri Tutberidze.
Valieva eventually served a ban which expired in December, despite long-running legal efforts to have it overturned, including at the Swiss supreme court last year.
Since the 2022 Olympics, rules have been changed to raise the minimum age for skaters to 17 in time for the Milan Cortina Olympics.
Also returning to action on Saturday was Alexandra Ignatova, who won the silver medal at the 2022 Olympics under her maiden name of Alexandra Trusova. She was competing for the first time since giving birth last year and didn't reach the semifinals.
AP Winter Olympics at https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
Russian figure skater Alexandra Ignatova competes at the Russian Jumping Championships in Moscow, Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Pavel Bednyakov)
Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva competes at the Russian Jumping Championships in Moscow, Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Pavel Bednyakov)
Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva competes at the Russian Jumping Championships in Moscow, Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Pavel Bednyakov)
Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva warms up before competing at the Russian Jumping Championships in Moscow, Saturday, Jan. 31, 2026. (AP Photo/Pavel Bednyakov)
GLOUCESTER, Mass. (AP) — The U.S. Coast Guard on Saturday suspended the search for seven people who were aboard a commercial fishing vessel that sank off the coast of Massachusetts in rough, frigid waters.
The Coast Guard launched a search and rescue mission early Friday after receiving an alert from the 72-foot Lily Jean about 25 miles off Cape Ann. Searchers found a debris field near where the alert was sent along with a body in the water and an empty life raft, the Coast Guard said.
Crews covered about 1,000 square miles (2,589 square kilometers) using multiple aircraft, cutters and small boats over a 24-hour period. However, after consultation between search and rescue mission coordinators and on-scene commanders, the Coast Guard announced Saturday that it had determined that all reasonable search efforts for the missing crewmembers had been exhausted.
Officials said there wasn’t a mayday call from Lily Jean as it navigated the frigid Atlantic Ocean on its way home to Gloucester, Massachusetts, America’s oldest fishing port. The Coast Guard was notified by the boat’s beacon that alerts when it hits the water.
The Coast Guard is investigating the cause of the sinking. Officials did not immediately release the names of those who were lost.
“We are deep in sorrow, but we are a strong community, and we will rise, we will rise to this occasion,” Republican State Sen. Bruce Tarr said during a emotional news conference Saturday.
The Coast Guard’s Sector Boston Commander Jamie Frederick said frigid temperatures, stormy conditions and the vast ocean made finding survivors at night difficult, a task made more challenging with a nor’easter approaching the East Coast this weekend. Searchers dealt with 7- to 10-foot seas and freezing ocean spray , Frederick said.
At the time of the emergency alert, the National Weather Service said wind speeds out at sea were around 27 mph (24 knots) with waves around four feet high. It was 12 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 11 degrees Celsius) with water temperatures about 39 F (4 C.)
Frederick said there was “no single clue" to lead officials to determine what happened to the Lily Jean so far.
“The debris looked like anything that would be loose on a deck, things that float off a fishing deck,” he said.
It is the latest maritime tragedy to befall Gloucester and its close-knit community of people in the fishing business. The city that inspired “The Perfect Storm” is tied to its fishing heritage in a way that has brought 400 years of history and, sometimes, tragedy. That book and movie were inspired by the FV Andrea Gail, which went missing at sea in 1991.
Vito Giacalone, head of the Gloucester Fishing Community Preservation Fund, described the fishing community as a brotherhood that was grieving and in shock.
“Everybody's just heartbroken,” Giacalone told The Associated Press in a phone interview Saturday. “To have that many lives lost all at once, we haven't seen that in a long time.”
Paul Lundberg, Gloucester's mayor, said the names of those on the Lily Jean would be added to a city memorial honoring thousands of fishermen who have been lost at sea.
The Lily Jean, its captain, Gus Sanfilippo, and his crew were featured in a 2012 episode of the History Channel show “Nor’Easter Men.” Sanfilippo is described as a fifth-generation commercial fisherman, fishing out of Gloucester, Massachusetts, in the Georges Bank. The crew is shown working in dangerous weather conditions for hours on end, spending as many as 10 days at sea on one trip fishing for haddock, lobster and flounder.
“We loved each other,” Giacalone said about his relationship with Sanfilippo. “He treated me like a big brother and I treated him like my younger brother. To know the tragedy of this and to know the kind of character that Gus had, he'd be mortified to know that these lives were all lost.”
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said a fishery observer was on board the vessel. Fishery observers are workers who collect data on board fishing boats for the government to use to inform regulations.
NOAA Fisheries said observer deployments would be suspended until after midnight Wednesday due to the sinking and the weather in the Northeast.
Deep-sea fishing in New England can always be hazardous, but it can be especially dangerous in the winter because of high waves, frigid temperatures and unpredictable weather. Commercial fishing is often cited as one of the most dangerous jobs in the world.
Everett Sawyer, 55, a childhood friend of Sanfilippo, said he has known 25 people who were lost at sea. Cold winter conditions can complicate operations even for experienced sailors, Sawyer said.
“Things happen very quickly when you’re out on the ocean,” he said.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said it was aware that there was a fishery observer on board the vessel. Fishery observers are workers who collect data on board fishing boats for the government to use to inform regulations.
Casey reported from Boston, Ngowi reported from Gloucester, Massachusetts, and Whittle reported from Portland, Maine. Associated Press reporter Adrian Sainz contributed from Memphis, Tennessee.
Fishing boats are tied up in Gloucester, Mass., the home port of a vessel that that went missing at sea with seven people aboard, Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Fishing boats are tied up in Gloucester, Mass., the home port of a vessel that that went missing at sea with seven people aboard, Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Fishing boats are tied up in Gloucester, Mass., the home port of a vessel that that went missing at sea with seven people aboard, Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Ice coats radar instruments on a fishing boat up in Gloucester, Mass., the home port of a vessel that that went missing at sea with seven people aboard, Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Fishing boats are tied up in Gloucester, Mass., the home port of a vessel that that went missing at sea with seven people aboard, Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Offshore fishing vessels are docked near the State Fish Pier in Gloucester, Mass., where one of the community's fishing boats went missing off the coast of Massachusetts with multiple people on board, Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Flowers are seen placed at the Gloucester Fisherman's Memorial in Gloucester, Mass., after a fishing boat from port city went missing off the coast of Massachusetts with multiple people on board, Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Flowers are seen placed at the Gloucester Fisherman's Memorial in Gloucester, Mass., after a fishing boat from port city went missing off the coast of Massachusetts with multiple people on board, Friday, Jan. 30, 2026. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
FILE - Fishing boats are docked in the harbor of Gloucester, Mass., May 11, 2022. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)
