Olympic figure skating team gold medallist Yulia Lipnitskaya has decided to retire after undergoing treatment for anorexia and will not defend her title at next year's Pyeongchang Games, her mother told TASS state news agency. "Yulia informed the (figure skating) federation of her decision to retire in April right after her return from Europe, where she underwent a course of treatment for anorexia," the agency quoted the 19-year-old skater's mother Daniela Lipnitskaya as saying. The country's figure skating federation chief Alexander Gorshkov however said he had not received any information on Lipnitskaya's retirement and she was still in the reserves for the national team. "I cannot work with rumours," he told TASS. "My position obliges me to proceed on the basis of facts. We need to wait for a statement from Yulia -- so far this is just talk."

source: AFP