Kamila Valieva, Russia’s top skater, was finally allowed to compete at the Winter Olympics in Beijing after being involved in a suspected doping case.
Russian skater Kamila Valieva was seen warming up on the ice Tuesday and training ahead of the women’s short-term program competition at the Beijing Winter Olympics in the evening. 15-year-old Valieva, along with her teammates from Russia – Alexandra Trusova and Anna Shcherbakova – are the most favored skaters to win the gold medal, and they are looking to sweep the entire standings in this competition, the first by a country, in the women’s skater category. .
Valieva was allowed to skate despite being banned for failing a drug test conducted on December 25 and the results only came out last week. Whereas previously he showed two brilliant performances in the team competition, which helped win the gold medal for the Russian team.
One of her lawyers said the positive test result came from the cup Valieva was using, which is suspected to have been contaminated with a heart drug that her grandfather had previously taken.
Denis Oswald, former member of the IOC International Olympic Committee, made this argument and was discussed at the Court of Arbitration for Sport on Sunday night (13/2).
The arbitral tribunal on Monday (14/2) ruled in Valieva’s favor, in part because she is a minor – otherwise known as a “protected person” – and is subject to different rules than adult athletes. She was allowed to compete in the women’s individual event, even though she tested positive for heart medication trimetazidine. Valieva looked very tired after the trial.
Valieva, who on Monday also trained in two sessions, told Russia Channel One that “these days are very difficult for me, I am happy but emotionally I am tired.”
There will be no medal ceremony if Valieva is one of the top three figure skaters at the Games as the IOC International Olympic Committee fears she could still be banned after the results of a full investigation into the alleged doping case are made. The three-member Court of Arbitration for Sport only decided whether he could compete in the Olympics, but did not consider the underlying issue in the doping case which constituted the offence.
Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters Monday that the Kremlin “together with the whole country wishes Kamila to win the Olympics… As for the gold medal in the team competition, we hope that it will be awarded to her soon. ”
Russians expressed relief when Valieva was finally allowed to compete in the skating competition in Beijing.
“Of course it is very sad for a small child to have to deal with such stress. He is only 15 years old and he is already the focus of such scandals. I’m glad it’s finally over,” Anastasia Smirnova told the Associated Press.
The same thing was conveyed by Muscovite Kirill. “I think Western countries care so much about Russia that they start making excuses for the slightest thing about doping.”
The investigation into Vilaeva’s alleged doping will continue over the next few months and if it is later proven that she used doping instead of simply using a cup contaminated with the heart medication her grandfather drank, then Vilaeva will likely lose her current medal. [em/jm]