Kamila Valiyeva: Figure skater faces four-year ban after doping

doping allegations
Figure skating star Kamila Valiewa faces a four-year ban

Kamila Valiyeva was under a lot of pressure at the Winter Olympics in Beijing. The then 15-year-old from Russia was considered a talent of the century, but a banned heart drug was found in her blood. Now the International Court of Arbitration for Sports decides on their sporting future.

The whole world watched as Kamila Valiyeva fell on the ice at the Beijing Olympics in February. The 15-year-old Russian was considered an exceptional talent. She was the first runner to show quadruple jumps at the Olympics. With her freestyle, the young woman from Kazan initially secured the Olympic victory in the team competition. Shortly thereafter, she was threatened with being excluded from the individual competition. The reason: Valiewa had tested positive for the heart drug trimetazidine on December 25, 2021 at the Russian Figure Skating Championships. The Russian Anti-Doping Agency (Rusada) allegedly only received this finding after this victory.

There were calls for the 15-year-old to be suspended, but the Cas International Sports Court rejected them. One of the reasons cited was her underage status, which makes her a “protected person” under the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) code. Valiewa was allowed to compete in women’s singles. But the fuss about her person made it difficult for the young figure skater. She fell and botched several jumps and cried bitter tears when the points were awarded. In the end, she only finished fourth. Gold went to the Russian world champion Anna Shcherbakowa, silver to teammate Alexandra Trusowa. Kaori Sakamoto of Japan took bronze. “She should have been protected. She was a shadow of herself,” analyzed the former figure skater and today’s ARD expert Katharina Witt, who also fought back tears.

Kamila Valiewa faces a four-year ban

As a consequence of the debacle, the minimum age for figure skating was gradually raised to 17 by the time of the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo. That’s how old Valiyeva would be. But it is questionable whether she will even be allowed to compete there. Because the International Sports Court (Cas) has initiated arbitration proceedings against the 16-year-old, as was announced on Monday. She faces a four-year sentence and the withdrawal of all competition results she has achieved from December 25, 2021 – with all resulting consequences, including the loss of medals, points and prizes.

The World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) had appealed to the court in Lausanne because the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (Rusada) had not yet made a decision. Wada bases its referral to the Sports Court on Article 15.3 of Rusada’s Anti-Doping Rules. According to the statement, the World Agency can call the Cas if a decision is not made in a case “within a reasonable time limit set by Wada” whether there has been a violation of the rules. The appeal was filed because Rusada failed to make a decision within the time limit set by Wada.

Watch the video: Russian figure skater Kamila Valiyeva’s doping case causes unrest at the Beijing Winter Olympics. The 15-year-old tested positive for the heart drug trimetazidine at the end of December.
Sources: International Sports CourtDPA