Megan Henry was 13 points short of a place at Beijing 2022 but has not given up hope of reaching the Games ©Getty Images

American skeleton racer Megan Henry, who agonisingly missed out on a place at the Winter Olympics, has lodged an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) Ad Hoc Division in a last-ditch effort to be allowed to compete.

Henry is appealing for the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF) and International Olympic Committee to revert to a previous qualification system, which would have seen her amass enough ranking points to earn a quota spot.

The 34-year-old went into the final IBSF World Cup race of the season in St Moritz in Switzerland in a three-way tussle for the United States' two spots in the women’s skeleton team.

There was little separating the athletes but Henry came up just short as 37-year-old Katie Uhlaender made it to her sixth Winter Olympics and Kelly Curtis sealed the other ticket to Beijing.

Curtis finished a mere one place and 12 points ahead of Henry in 14th position in the world rankings.

Henry contends, however, that was the original qualification formula used, the US would instead have had three quota places and she would have a ticket to Beijing 2022.

The IBSF qualification rules, which were revised in September 2021, state that an athletes' ranking is based on their best seven results in the 2021-2022 World Cup season whereas under the previous eligibility criteria points earned during the 2020-2021 campaign were included.

Katie Tannenbaum of the US Virgin Islands secured the final quota spot in the women's skeleton following a re-allocation process, but that could be under threat ©Getty Images
Katie Tannenbaum of the US Virgin Islands secured the final quota spot in the women's skeleton following a re-allocation process, but that could be under threat ©Getty Images

After failing in an appeal to the IBSF Appeals Tribunal, Henry has taken the case to the CAS Ad Hoc Division in Beijing, asking that the final quota spot awarded to the US Virgin Islands and Katie Tannenbaum instead be transferred to Henry.

A CAS Ad Hoc Division hearing is set to held tomorrow with the verdict due to be made later that day.

It is one of the first applications to be filed to the CAS Ad Hoc Division in Beijing since it opened its doors on January 25.

The CAS opened temporarily offices for the Ad Hoc and Anti-Doping Divisions in Beijing in a bid to resolve doping and legal disputes during the Winter Olympics, scheduled to run from February 4 to 20.

It claims the two divisions will provide "rapid" resolutions before and during the Games.

Like at Tokyo 2020, hearings in doping and legal cases will be held by videoconference because of COVID-19 restrictions at Beijing 2022.