Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva has been cleared to compete in the Winter Olympics after she tested positive for a banned substance.
Valieva, 15, became one of the youngest athletes to face a doping charge during the Olympics after her sample taken in December returned positive on February 8 for trimetazidine, medication that increases blood flow to the heart, and is banned at the Olympics.
The result did not come in until after the teenager had competed at a team event in Beijing and showed off the first quad jumps ever completed in the women's Olympic competition, though the result prompted questions about whether she would be able to continue in the games.
Advert
The International Olympic Committee, the World Anti-Doping Agency and the International Skating Union had appealed against the Russian Anti-Doping Agency's decision to lift her provisional doping suspension, but today, February 14, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) announced its decision to uphold the removal of the ban to allow her to compete in the women's singles in figure skating.
The court said Valieva was a 'protected person' under World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) rules, and that preventing her from competing at the Olympics would have caused irreparable harm.
The CAS also cited the 'serious issues of untimely notification of the [doping test] results' when announcing its decision, saying, 'Such late notification was not her fault, in the middle of the Olympic Winter Games.'
The 15-year-old was back on the ice just half an hour after receiving the decision to practice with her Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) team mates ahead of the event tomorrow, Reuters reports, though the court's choice was slammed by United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) CEO Sarah Hirshland, who commented: 'This appears to be another chapter in the systematic and pervasive disregard for clean sport by Russia.'
Advert
Hirshland added: 'We know this case is not yet closed, and we call on everyone in the Olympic Movement to continue to fight for clean sport on behalf of athletes around the world.'
Though Valieva is allowed to continue in the games, a separate investigation led by the Russian Anti-Doping Agency is set to determine whether the Russian skating team will be able to keep the gold team medal they won with Valieva's help.
Prior to the release of the decision, International Olympic Committee spokesperson Mark Adams said the decision over whether to award the medals for the team event would not be able to go ahead until the doping case was addressed.
Advert
He commented: 'That will probably not be sorted out during this Games and that is something regrettable, but we have to follow the process.'
If the Russian athletes are not able to keep their gold medals, the US team will be in line for gold.
If you have a story you want to tell, send it to UNILAD via [email protected]
Emily Brown