Arbitrators of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) – Italian Fabio Judika, American Jeffrey Benz and Slovenian Vesna Bergant Rakocevich on Monday, February 14, made a decision on the admission of Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva to compete at the Olympic Games in Beijing.
On February 7, the ROC figure skating team with Valieva took first place in the team tournament. The 15-year-old athlete won both programs, scoring 90.18 points in the short program and 178.92 in the free program.
However, the award ceremony was postponed from February 7 for a day, and then for an indefinite period.
On February 8, a WADA-accredited laboratory in Stockholm reported the discovery of traces of banned and doping-qualified trimetazidine in a sample of a figure skater. Valieva was temporarily suspended from participating in the Olympics, but the very next day this decision was challenged and withdrawn.
The ROC indicated that Valieva received negative doping test results before and after December 25, and the athlete’s sample after the team tournament in Beijing also turned out to be clean.
On February 11, the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) initiated an investigation into Valieva’s staff, whose sample was found to contain a banned substance. At the same time, samples taken from the Russian woman later were analyzed faster than the test from December 25. According to the agency, the reason for the delay in checking the doping test of the athlete and reporting was cases of infection with COVID-19 among staff in the laboratory in Stockholm.
A day later, Russian figure skating coach Eteri Tutberidze emphasized that the Russian side was confident in the innocence of the athlete. At the same time, according to her, it is not clear why the figure skater with a dubious test was allowed to participate in the Olympics on December 25.
On February 12, it became known that CAS accepted the appeal of the International Skating Union to cancel the suspension of Valieva.
On February 13, it became known that the independent investigation department of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) will interview coaches, doctors and other adult employees of the athlete’s team. Earlier, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) officially asked the agency to launch an investigation.
On the same day, Valieva completed her short program at a training session in Beijing. The skater was watched by coaches Eteri Tutberidze, Sergey Dudakov and Daniil Gleikhengauz, as well as team doctors.
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