MADRID, 14 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has announced this Monday that there will be no medal ceremony in the event that the Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva, who has been allowed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to continue competing in the Winter Olympics Beijing 2022 despite testing positive for trimetazidine prior to the Chinese event, finished in the top three in the women’s singles figure skating competition.
“If Ms. Valieva finishes among the top three competitors in the women’s singles skating event, no flower ceremony or medal ceremony will be held during the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics,” the IOC said in a statement, recalling that his case “has not yet concluded”.
This Monday, the CAS refused to provisionally suspend, as requested by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the World Anti-Doping Agency (AMA) and the International Skating Union (ISU), the current European champion despite the fact that it was known that she had tested positive for doping before the Games.
The three organizations had submitted urgent allegations to the decision made on February 9 by the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA), which decided to lift the provisional sanction of Valieva, who had tested positive for trimetazidine at the Russian Figure Skating Championships in the December, and allowed him to participate in the Chinese event.
The CAS ruling is not a decision on whether Valieva breached the anti-doping rules, but is limited to determining whether or not the skater can be provisionally suspended during the Games for her status as a “protected person” -as a minor- for the World Anti-Doping Code. The organization understands that kicking her out of the appointment can cause “irreparable damage”, and highlights that the “late notification” to the IOC of her sanction and the subsequent lifting of this “is not her fault” of her.
In addition, the IOC requested that the ISU “for reasons of fairness” allow a 25th competitor to enter the free skate of the February 17 figure skating event should Valieva qualify “in the top 24”. in the short program on the 15th.
On the other hand, he also confirmed that the medal ceremony of the figure skating team event will not be held, in which Russia won gold and in which Valieva made history by being the first woman to sign a quadruple jump in some Games. “In the interest of fairness, it would not be appropriate to hold the ceremony … as it would include an athlete who has an A sample,” she explained.