Valentin Piseyev, the president of the Russian Figure Skating Federation, said on Wednesday he had received a fax signed by JSF President Yasuakira Hayashi relieving the skater of any obligations to Japan.
Pair skater Yuko Kawaguchi was born in 1981 in Japan, but currently resides in Russia. However, she only received Russian citizenship on December 23, 2008.
In line with the International Olympic Committee's regulations, an athlete must have been a citizen of a country for at least three years to represent it at the Games unless granted special permission by his or her former country.
Kawaguchi has been skating with Russia's Alexander Smirnov since early 2006. She and Smirnov are the 2008, 2009 Russian Champions and the 2009 European silver medalists.
The athlete has been living in Russia's second largest city of St. Petersburg since 2002, where she graduated from the St. Petersburg University, majoring in international politics. She speaks fluent English and Russian.
