BEIJING – Kamila Valieva will learn on Monday whether she will be allowed to compete in the women’s singles Olympic figure skating after a doping scandal.
The 15-year-old Russian is yet to receive her gold medal for the team event, which finished on Monday, after the awarding of prizes was held up by a legal issue.
It was confirmed on Friday that the teenage superstar had failed a drugs test for the banned substance trimetazidine in December 2021, a result that had come to light the day after the team event concluded.
The Russians then appealed against the provisional automatic suspension by their country’s anti-doping agency, which was accepted, but Olympic authorities are now taking that ruling to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
The hearing is due to take place at 8.30pm Beijing time on Sunday (12.30pm UK time) with a decision handed down on Monday afternoon, just 24 hours before the women’s singles figure skating competition, for which Valieva is a red-hot favourite.
Valieva practised as planned on Saturday in front of her coach Eteri Tutberidze, who has coached the last two Olympic champions as well as her current charge who is widely accepted as the world’s best. If Valieva is banned, Tutberidze will come under significant scrutiny.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) have broadly declined to comment on the specifics of the case but spokesperson Mark Adams did point out on Saturday that an investigation into the case as a whole should include those working with the athlete, a relevant comment given Valieva is technically a minor.
“Entourage has been overlooked in the past,” Adams said on Saturday.
“The IOC, as ever, would welcome investigation into the entourage in all cases where it’s relevant. In this case, as in all cases, we would welcome a strong line on that [from the World Anti-Doping Agency].
“Entourage ranges from doctors and coaches, parents: everyone.”
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It remains to be seen however if she will be able to complete her Games or even return to the Olympics. The Russian Olympic Committee are already forced to compete under the name ROC, as opposed to Russia, and are not allowed to use their flag or national anthem, all due to previous doping breaches.
And one IOC board member is talking up the possibility of banning the country from competition entirely.
“The Russians don’t help themselves because they have been absolutely unrepentant,” IOC executive Dick Pound said.
“They won’t admit anything, they appeal every single decision.
“I think the approach probably has been too lenient to allow them to compete as the Russian Olympic Committee.”
He added: “At a certain point if they are absolutely incorrigible you end up with the position of a country [taking a] timeout.
“We could say ‘we can help you. You got a problem. We can concentrate on it. Take a time out for one or two, or three Olympic Games until you get this under control’.”