MADRID, 29 Ene. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has imposed a four-year ban on Russian skater Kamila Valieva, effective as of December 25, 2021, for her positive doping test prior to the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. , a suspension that leads to the withdrawal of Russia's team gold medal in figure skating at the Olympic event.
“Valieva is determined to have committed an anti-doping rule violation (…) A four-year period of ineligibility is imposed, beginning December 25, 2021. All of Valieva's competitive results since that day are void, as well as the resulting consequences, including the loss of titles, awards, medals and earnings,” the CAS resolution states.
Valieva, who became, at just 15 years old, the first woman in history to achieve a quadruple jump at the Olympic Games during the Beijing 2022 figure skating team event, tested positive for trimetazidine on December 25, 2021 in Saint Petersburg, during the Russian figure skating championship, a test carried out under the management of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA), which provisionally suspended it.
This sanction prevented the athlete from participating in any event, including the Beijing Games; However, as the sample was collected by RUSADA before the Games, it was not under the jurisdiction of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Valieva challenged the provisional suspension before the RUSADA Anti-Doping Disciplinary Committee, which lifted the sanction and allowed her to participate in Beijing.
In the Asian event she won the team gold medal, while in the individual competition she was fourth. The International Olympic Committee (IOC), the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the International Skating Federation (ISU) appealed RUSADA's decision to the CAS, which allowed it to continue in the competition – the individual event had not yet been held. – by asserting his status as a “protected person” as a minor.
The sanction will cause Valieva to lose all titles and medals won during that period, which will mean that the United States will win the team gold medal in Beijing 2022. The Russian skater's suspension will end on December 25, 2025, which which would allow him to arrive in time for the Cortina d'Ampezzo-Milan 2026 Winter Olympic Games.