From the quadruple jump to doping at the Winter Olympics: the story of Kamila Valieva

At just 15 years old, Kamila Valieva became a trend on social networks for achieving the first quadruple jump at the Winter Olympics. However, the Russian skater has once again become a trend for having tested positive for doping, leaving her participation in suspense, pending what the TAS says.

The continued participation in the Games of Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva, a favorite for Olympic gold, who tested positive for a banned substance, is subject to a decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

The sport’s highest judicial body is expected to rule before the start of the women’s singles competition, scheduled for Tuesday, February 15.

Valieva, only 15 years old and undefeated so far in her first season in the senior category, tested positive for trimetazidine in a test carried out last December 25 at the national championship of her country, in Saint Petersburg, by the Russian anti-doping agency. (Rusada), announced this Friday in a statement the ITA, the body in charge of anti-doping controls during the Olympic Games.

Team gold winner and individual favorite, she tested positive for this drug for angina pectoris, banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) since 2014.

The result of the control was known on February 8, but the Russian anti-doping agency had previously suspended Valieva provisionally, who appealed the decision. On February 9, two days after winning the team gold in Beijing-2022, the sanction was also temporarily lifted by the Russian agency.

They resorted to the TAS

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) was against this lifting and appealed it to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), stating that “a decision is necessary before February 15”, when the women’s individual competition begins.

The International Skating Federation (ISU) and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) joined the IOC’s appeal, reviving the fault lines between Russian sport and international sporting bodies, regularly denounced by Moscow as an instrument of Western dominance.

Valieva “has the right to train and fully participate in the competitions,” said the Russian Olympic Committee, defending that the control was before the Games and that its athletes must keep the gold of the team competition.

In addition, the ROC expressed doubts about the conditions of the analysis, carried out in Stockholm, and about the deadlines.

“The deadlines for the analysis of the sample raise serious questions. The international standard for treatment of the A sample by the WADA laboratory is 20 days after delivery of the sample. It is strange that it took almost a month for the sample to travel from St. Petersburg to Stockholm,” said ROC President Stanislav Pozdnyakov.

The Kremlin was quick to show its support for the figure skater. “We fully, infinitely support our Kamila Valieva, and we call on the whole world to support her,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov told reporters. “We say to Kamila: ‘Don’t hide your face! You are Russian (…), she participates in the competitions and wins!’” he added.

Questioned at the IOC’s daily press conference in Beijing, its spokesman Mark Adams explained that it was a “very legal” matter: “There are broader issues in this case, because she is a minor so we cannot communicate them.”