New Allegations Emerge as Latvian Club Defends Coaches Accused of Abuse

Content warning: physical and emotional abuse, injury, violence

by Izumi Yoneyama and Anna Kellar

Since AnythingGOE published the allegations from Sofja Stepcenko against the Latvian coaches Olga Kovalkova and Raimo Reinsalu, additional skaters have stepped forward with their own allegations of abuse against the same coaches. Kovalkova and Reinsalu have defended themselves through the Instagram account of their club, Kristal Ice, sharing positive accounts from skaters and parents.

The International Skating Union (ISU) has confirmed that it is investigating the allegations against the coaching team. 

The national federation, the Latvian Skating Association (LSA), has not publicly commented since the allegations became public. The LSA president has previously defended Reinsalu against allegations from athletes and fellow coaches, and has even gone as far as filing a police report in retaliation against one whistleblower. 

To make sense of this response, it is essential to understand the landscape of safeguarding in Latvia and the close ties between the LSA and Kristal Ice. 

A built-in conflict-of-interest

Latvia does not have an independent “safe sport” agency with the mandate to investigate reports of abuse in sports. Instead, athlete-survivors have the option of filing a report with the police, which requires proof of a criminal violation. They can also make a complaint to the Latvian Skating Association alleging a violation of its Ethics Policy, and/or file a report with the ISU’s safeguarding officer. The LSA and ISU, as official governing bodies of the sport, have the power to restrict or ban participants who break codes of conduct, even if that misconduct doesn’t meet the threshold of criminal prosecution. 

In recent decades, sports federations have been expected to take on a more active role in the safeguarding of their athletes. However, these institutions often struggle to investigate their own members, especially when powerful individuals are accused of safeguarding violations. Some nations, such as the United States and Canada, have established independent safe sport bodies, although survivor-advocates point to ongoing problems with conflicts of interest and the lack of resources for those institutions. 

The potential for conflicts of interest is especially pronounced in small federations like the Latvian Skating Association. The LSA board is elected by the federation’s members, currently numbering 24 clubs and sports schools, at a General Meeting. The current board president, Uldis Šauers, is a businessman and former skater who was elected in 2024 on promises of change. The other eight board members are prominent coaches or otherwise closely engaged with the sport. Olga Kovalkova has served as a director for at least 15 years. Other board members include ISU Referee Agita Ābele, Jekaterina Platonova (the head coach of the Kaskads club and coach of skaters such as Angelina Kuchvalska), and Andrejs Brovenko (Coach at the Jelgava Ice Sports School, who works with the 2024 senior women’s champion Anastasija Konga, among others).  

The LSA is accountable to the Latvian Ministry of Education and Science and receives government funding each year. In 2024, the LSA received just over 36,000 Euros from the Ministry, representing approximately 10% of its revenue. 

The LSA does not have a written policy to govern its approach to safeguarding. In an August 12th statement to AnythingGOEs, President Uldis Šauers described their procedure for handling allegations: “Following any such report, an extraordinary meeting of the Board is convened to review the matter. If the complaint involves a member of the Board, that person participates only to provide explanations and does not participate in the voting process, to avoid any conflict of interest….upon receiving a report, the Board also assesses whether the matter falls within its competence or should be referred to the relevant law enforcement authorities.” 

Šauers continued in his response to AnythingGOEs, “We have recently received a complaint from Ms Stepcenko; however, we need to clarify the content of the complaint and have requested additional information, which we have not yet received. Once we receive these clarifications, if necessary, we will promptly forward the information to the police. This is the first such letter from Ms Stepcenko to the current board. Since April 2024, Ms Stepcenko has not been training in Latvia, and until now, we had not received any complaints from her. We have no information indicating that any law enforcement authorities are conducting an investigation regarding the individuals concerned.”

Stepcenko countered that she first shared the information about mistreatment by Kristal Ice coaches during a meeting with Šauers and the federation general secretary on May 21, 2024, a few days after Šauers was elected.  She later filed a written complaint in Summer 2025. Given the presence of Kovalkova on the board and Kovalkova’s influence in the federation, Stepcenko has said that she has little confidence that her report will be taken seriously. 

The ISU investigation

On August 28th, the ISU shared the following statement with AnythingGOEs: “The International Skating Union (ISU) is aware and concerned by the recently reported cases of abuse involving Latvian Figure skaters, and is addressing them with the utmost seriousness. A thorough investigation is underway, conducted in full respect of due process and strict confidentiality. In parallel, the ISU remains in direct contact with the skater to provide continuous support throughout the process.”

The International Skating Union has made several steps in recent years to increase resources for athletes who have experienced abuse, including the hiring of a safeguarding officer and the adoption of a safeguarding policy in 2023. In addition, the new ISU Constitution that was adopted in June 2025 provides for an independent Integrity Unit. The Unit, which will be established after the 2026 ISU Congress, will have the authority to investigate and prosecute cases in the areas of safeguarding, anti-doping, and integrity before the ISU’s Disciplinary Commission. 

Under the current policies, the ISU has authority over “cases involving individuals who have previously participated, are currently participating, or are expected to participate in ISU events.” This includes members of host committees for ISU events, coaches who participate in ISU events, and ISU officials.

Both Kovalkova and Reinsalu fit the criteria several times over. Kovalkova is the director of Kristal Ice, the host club of the ISU Junior Grand Prix in Riga. She frequently receives accreditation to accompany students to competitions, including ISU Championships. In July 2025, Kovalkova and Reinsalu organized a training camp with funding from the ISU Development Commission. Reinsalu is also an ISU technical specialist, enabling him to work as an official for singles skating at events such as the 2024 Challenger Series Warsaw Cup.  

The ISU also noted that they can support national-level investigations: “Should any victims have concerns about the process being undertaken at a national level, they may request the ISU’s involvement at any time.”

In 2024, the ISU announced a 20% increase in the C Contribution, meaning that federations would be eligible for $5,000 US dollars (or $10,000 if they cover both speed skating and figure skating) to support their safeguarding efforts. This money became available in January 2025. By November 2026, federations that accepted the additional contribution must meet basic requirements, which include establishing a safeguarding policy in line with the ISU’s, completing educational modules, and naming a safeguarding officer. 

As of August 2025, the Latvian federation has not adopted any public-facing safeguarding initiatives. Neither the ISU nor the LSA responded to AnythingGOEs inquiry about whether the federation had accepted the additional C Contribution. 

Additional skaters confirm allegations

The day after AnythingGOEs published the allegations from Stepcenko and others, two additional skaters wrote in to corroborate the abusive coaching at Kristal Ice. 

Ksenija Boikova wrote in a comment on the article, “I skated in this club from 2012 to 2016, and I confirm that Raimo Reinsalu was always the head coach, and all trainings were conducted in Russian. I never went to psychologists or psychiatrists, but I clearly remember the constant comparisons with other girls and being told that I would always be the worst.”

“I can also confirm that Olga Kovalkova, together with other mothers, constantly discussed the girls from the club, gossiping like old women and accusing them of being overweight, saying they looked disgusting. Of course, this could not help but affect our self-perception.”

“My former coach, Raimo Reinsalu, repeatedly took offense at me, even though I was a minor, and he would ignore me for weeks on the ice, leaving me to come up with exercises on my own.”

“It hurts me deeply, though sadly it is not surprising, that in response to these accusations, my former coach, Raimo Reinsalu, and a person who never trained us, but loved to spread rumors, Olga Kovalkova, reacted with the typical excuse that it was all just about the girls’ ‘difficult personalities.’”

“We were all very traumatized and, therefore, angry. As for her suggestion to interview other girls, I want to say that for years they manipulated athletes, and unfortunately, only a very small number of us have the strength to go against our former club and tell the truth about the toxic atmosphere that reigned in Kristal Ice.”

On September 1st, Boikova posted on Instagram, speaking in Russian directly to other former students of Kristal Ice, and calling on Reinsalu himself to acknowledge his mistakes and apologize. Kristal Ice commented on the video, saying, “It’s fashionable now to blame everyone around you!…Sorry, Ksyusha, if we offended you in any way in our club, really SORRY! …And the current scandal (if you don’t know this) is a deliberate action to undermine the club’s authority.”

Another skater, who asked to be kept anonymous because of fear of retribution, wrote to AnythingGOEs: “I trained at Kristal Ice from 2012 until 2017. I never trained for elite sport — my parents never aimed to make me a champion. Figure skating was supposed to be about health and development…”

“Raimo Reinsalu consistently humiliated children during the most vulnerable years of adolescence. I will never forget when he gathered us on the ice and said to me: ‘Soon you will become bigger than [girl’s name]. Stop devouring food.’ Such comparisons and public shaming left long-lasting damage.”

“I also clearly remember one of my very first practices. He expelled me from the ice. I sat on the bench, waiting, not knowing what to do. When my friend left for the locker room, I thought I should also go change, since I had been thrown out of practice. A few minutes later, Raimo Reinsalu entered the locker room carrying a hard skate cover. He hit me twice with it, saying something like: ‘If this is the only way you understand, then I will act like this.’ I was just a child, and he felt he could behave this way because physical punishment was already a rumor in the school.”

“There were also humiliations in smaller, everyday situations. For example, Raimo Reinsalu deliberately scattered skate covers on the ice and forced girls to collect them. He constantly shouted, punished, exploded emotionally, and set the children against each other. Comparisons were constant — who was better, who was worse.”

“The school’s director, Olga Kovalkova, also contributed to this toxic environment. She repeatedly called us “invalids,” openly discussed the girls’ bodies, their weight, and appearance, and spread endless, strange, and humiliating gossip about the children.”

“Now, as an adult and a coach myself (not in figure skating), I can see clearly how unprofessional this environment was. Having studied anatomy and physiology, I know how dangerous such treatment is. Raimo Reinsalu had no real knowledge of training methods, no education in pedagogy, no ability to explain or communicate constructively. Instead, he broke children psychologically and physically.”

“I believe such individuals should not be allowed to work with children. He has already damaged many young lives, and the impact of his actions continues years later. The responsibility for enabling this environment also lies with the school’s administration.”

Defending the “best team ever”

The LSA has not made a statement since the allegations against Reinslau and Kovalkova were published; however, on August 27th, the day after the AnythingGOES article was posted, the LSA’s official Instagram reposted a story by the mother of a junior skater featuring a photo of the skater, Kovalkova, and Reinsalu at the JGP Riga and a giant heart sticker with the tagline “Best Team Ever”. 

On the same day, the Russian network Match.TV published a response from Kristal Ice: “If you want to know the whole story, just look through the materials for 13 years…The coaches in this club never did anything bad to any of the children. As for Sofja – she was like a queen in our club. Her not very successful change of coaching staff, and now the humiliation of her native club – this is just PR and excuses.”

On Facebook, Marina Lange, the parent of a Kristal Ice skater, posted a photo of her daughter sharing support for the club. The post, which calls Stepcenko “a liar,” and “a former not quite adequate athlete” who fabricated the accusations for her own gain, was liked by Kovalkova and Reinsalu. The post was also liked by the international judge Irina Komarnicka, who is one of only 3 international or ISU judges from Latvia, and a frequent official at events hosted by Kristal Ice.

The Kristal Ice Instagram account has also posted and shared a large number of stories defending themselves and attacking Stepcenko. These stories included a collage of pictures of Stepcenko with Kovalkova and Reinsalu and the message, in English, “The law of God and the law of karma are one: every action has its answer!” 

The shared stories included messages from at least thirty skaters and parents who have trained at Kristal Ice, as well as those who have attended their camps, such as Ukrainian Kyrylo Lishenko, who posted “Stay just as strong, and remember all the bad things always come from envy.” 

The Kristal Ice account also posted a message addressed to the LSA from the Israeli coach and ISU technical specialist Julia Sheiko. Sheiko wrote that she has taken part in events organized by Kristal Ice for ten years and “…was truly astonished by the accusations against Olga…I know very well how professionally she runs her club, how carefully and openly she communicates with parents and how lovingly and attentively she treats all the athletes who train under her.”

Sheiko also said about Stepcenko, “the amount of dedication, care, and effort that Olga and Raimo invested in helping Sofja – an athlete who was not initially very talented or hardworking – to grow into a strong competitor is extraordinary and hard to overstate.”

Two of the Instagram stories shared by Kristal Ice appear to be screenshots of emails sent to the Latvian Skating Association by parents of skaters at Kristal Ice, implying that someone at the club has access to that account or that the LSA was sharing these messages with Kristal Ice. 

The club and the federation

There is a pattern of close collaboration between the federation and Kristal Ice, including previous cases when the federation (where Kovalkova, who is married to Reinsalu, is one of eight board members) defended Reinsalu. When Sporta Studija asked federation president Uldis Šauers in March 2025 about prior reports of abuse filed against Reinsalu, Šauers denied any of the reports had credibility, calling it “blatant slander.”

At the 2024 Latvian Nationals, there was a controversy about the selection of judges, and after the competition, several coaches made accusations about Reinsalu’s influence over the judging. These accusations led to Reinsalu allegedly issuing death threats against another coach, while in the presence of the federation president. 

Coach Karine Magone, director of the Ice Premium club, believes that Kristal Ice has an improper influence over competitions in Latvia, including the national championships. At the 2024 Nationals, nearly all of the judges and technical panel were individuals who had officiated at one or more “Volvo Cup” competitions hosted by Kristal Ice. The panel included Irina Komarnicka (the judge who liked the Facebook post supporting Kristal Ice and criticizing Stepcenko). In addition, Reinsalu was closely involved with the tech support for the Swiss Timing judging system, and the results were hosted on the website of Kristal Ice. 

“Our federation said [this situation was] okay,” said Magone, “but I think it’s not okay when Raimo has at the championship maybe 20 athletes, maybe more.”

She noted that Reinsalu was in frequent communication with the judges, “He is going all the time to the athletes, to the Kiss and Cry corner, and then going to the judges’ panel and sitting there 15 minutes…After one of the competitors finished the free skating…Raimo went to the Kiss and Cry corner. There is like a 5-meter distance between the Kiss and Cry corner and the judges. And, basically, Raimo was sitting on the couch and telling judges which elements should be in the protocols. He sees [the element] on the live protocol in the Sportity app, and he sees it’s not the correct [level] element, we need a different one.”

In the video, which can be viewed here, Reinsalu appears to be telling the judges to review the second element in his student’s program, we have edited the video to conceal the identity of the skater. The full livestream of the event is still publicly available on YouTube. “You can hear him basically giving instructions to the judge panel,” said Magone. “Two times in Russian and two times in English. That’s a bit interesting.” 

It is not possible to tell from the protocols whether any scores were in fact reviewed or changed.

Magone asserted, “The biggest problem is that the Latvian skating federation doesn’t see that it’s an issue.” 

Retaliation and Intimidation

After the Nationals, the LSA hosted a meeting in January 2025 for all the coaches with athletes at the national level. Notably, Stéphane Lambiel, the only international coach who has Latvian skaters at this level, was not invited.

“The federation decided that all of the coaches [don’t] understand how the judging should happen,” said Magone. “So they invited everybody to [a] seminar where Raimo was the main specialist, who basically started to teach what judging in figure skating is.”

Magone, alongside other coaches who were frustrated with the judging at Nationals, prepared for this meeting with videos of elements where they questioned the level or GOEs. “One of the first videos [we showed was] Raimo’s athlete…and Raimo is very… ‘I don’t like this.’ And he is very aggressive.”

“Then we showed this video where he’s speaking with the judges…standing between the kiss and cry corner and the judge, standing by the operator with the camera and he said ‘I’m not saying it for the judge, I’m saying for my camera operator,’ and I said ‘It’s okay, maybe it’s okay, but I’m asking why you said that two times in Russian and two times in English? Because your camera operator doesn’t understand English.’” 

Magone said that there was another prominent coach who spoke up in the meeting. “Her athletes had not had a bad result. I think maybe some girls for this club were skating better than Raimo’s athletes. But these girls are [scored] under the Raimo sportsmen. [This coach] said, ‘It’s not okay. We see the spins, and we see it’s not okay. When Raimo’s athlete is in the flying camel spin and [doesn’t hold the position]…for my athlete, it’s the cancellation of the camel spin. But for Raimo’s [athlete], they have a level four.’”

At this point, according to Magone, Reinsalu started to threaten this coach. “He said he will find her, and he knows where she lives. He said, ‘I’m going to kill you. I know where your children live. You want to get a bad result on the next competition?’”

Magone spoke with the coach afterwards. “For one or two weeks, she is all the time calling me, calling my mom, calling our colleagues, and saying, ‘I am scared. He write me SMS.’”

Magone tried to bring a complaint to the federation president, who was in the meeting as well. Šauers did nothing. Magone then brought a complaint to the Latvian Olympic Committee, and at that point, the coach who was threatened denied that the situation had happened. “Yes, probably because she’s scared,” noted Magone.

The coach in question asked AnythingGOE not to use her name, as she cannot comment while a police investigation is ongoing.

After receiving no help from official channels, Magone decided to speak out to the media. She did a televised interview in March 2025 with Sporta Studija (a program of the Latvian national broadcaster). She described the death threats made by Reinsalu, not mentioning by name the coach who was threatened. Reinsalu told Sporta Studia by text message that he “categorically denies such a situation…calls it dirty games between competitors.” The program reported that, “Uldis Šauers also calls the allegations blatantly false.” 

After the report aired on television, Magone received what she believes are attempts to intimidate her. 

First, Reinsalu and Šauers made a police complaint against Magone. 

“They were saying I am a liar,” said Magone. “I broke his reputation… [The police] sent an official letter saying that you have to come to answer questions. [Šauers and Reinsalu] lied in the report…The police said that the report is not a basis to start any kind of investigation or anything.”

“The funny thing is that they filed it on the 1st of April. I was not sure if they were joking!”  

Šauers wrote to AnythingGOEs that he wished to “neither confirm or deny” that such a report was made. 

The attempt to involve the police was only part of the retaliation that Magone alleges took place. 

Magone’s husband Endijs, who was present at the interview with AnythingGOEs to assist with English interpretation, explained further. “Her mom has a figure skating shop [which she has had] for a long time, and after the interview on television was published, somebody broke into the shop, and literally left shit on the door. If someone homeless or something [did this], he would have stolen the money. In this situation, we have only a broken window and big shit on the door.”

“It’s not [the] first time Raimo is doing something like that,” Karine Magone alleges. “[Another coach] said to me…it’s not the first time. And yeah, he likes that shit theme.”

“It’s an interesting method of intimidation,” Endijs Magone continued. “When it happened with the mama’s shop, I said ‘it’s 100 % Raimo, because there is the shit. Because it’s signed, from Raimo. It’s the signature, yeah, it’s something with the shit.’” These statements are allegations made by the Magones, and have not been verified. An attempt to contact Reinsalu about the allegations was made, AnythingGOEs received no response.

While it may sound remarkable that a coach could be intimidated into retracting her complaint about threats that took place in front of many of her colleagues, it shows the power that Reinsalu holds within the federation.

Endijs Magone noted, “The main problem is if [the coach who was threatened] speaks out, there is a risk that she will lose her [ability to host her] competition, and therefore it will impact her club.”

“It is a bit different for us because I make money, and my wife makes money. [Karine] is trying to fight [the federation]. And if the result is her losing, let’s say her club, due to, I don’t know, some lies that will impact the reputation, for example, we’ll still be fine. So more or less, we don’t have anything to lose, at least in terms of income, or whatever. Of course, she loves what she does, but she’s fighting for justice.”

“No,” interjected Karine. “I’m fighting for my kids.”

Disclaimer: This article contains allegations by interviewees that have not been independently verified. The indiviudals mentioned were contacted for comment.

AnythingGOEs will continue to cover the response to allegations of abuse in Latvian skating. Part three of our investigation will investigate alleged problems in the financial management of the LSA and the funding for its top athletes. 

Read Part One: “Its Not Worth Your Life”: Latvian Skaters Speak Out About Abuse

Read Part Three: Skaters criticise Latvian federation’s delayed and inconsistent funding

[This article was edited on 05/09/2025 and 06/09/2025 by request to conceal the identities of some skaters.]