New Delhi, India

Imagine creating history for your country at the tender age of 15 only to test positive for doping soon after, facing humiliation and suspension. Russian figure skating prodigy Kamila Valieva suffered the exact fate as she got stripped of her gold medal win at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics in the team event.  

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The young Olympian failed the dope test (tested before the last Winter Games), with the Court of Arbitration (CAS) on Sunday (Jan 29) handing her a four-year suspension. Although a Russian Anti-Doping Agency’s (RUSADA) investigation finds ‘no fault or negligence’ for a failed dope test, CAS upheld an appeal by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), resulting in punishing her as per the norms underlined.

Both CAS and WADA released their respective statements on this matter, with CAS disqualifying her of all competitive results since December 25, 2021. The WADA welcomed the move but vowed to punish those who doped Valieva, now 17.

ALSO READ: Russia dropped to bronze in 2022 Olympic skating event after Kamila Valieva doping ban

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“A period of four years ineligibility is imposed on Ms Valieva. All competitive results of Ms Valieva from 25 December 2021 are disqualified, with all the resulting consequences,” CAS said in a statement.

"The doping of children is unforgivable,” Wada said, urging ‘governments to consider passing legislation -- as some have done already -- making the doping of minors a criminal offence.”

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What happened?

Following winning the Russian Championships, the RUSADA tested the skater on December 25, 2021, the sample of which was sent to the WADA-accredited laboratory in Stockholm. 

The lab there found a minute concentration of Trimetazidine - a drug used to treat angina but banned for athletes. 

However, due to unprecedented circumstances (because of the COVID-19 pandemic), it took longer for the doping results to come out (during the middle of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.

Though in Valieva’s defence, her spokesperson said they disagree with the decision, slamming the authorities for ‘policing’ this call against Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) athletes, the United States of America (USA) (who stood second) officials called this as a victory for the clean athletes. 

"Of course, we don't agree with it... From my point of view, of course, it's politicised," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Russian news agencies.

Considering the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has not yet organised the medal ceremony of the said team event (where Valieva became the first female skater to land a quadruple jump in an Olympic competition, helping Russia win team gold), the USA and Japanese and Canada (that stood 2nd, 3rd and 4th, respectively) directed anger towards the decision ‘taking longer’ (around two years) to come out. 

"While any sense of true justice has been denied by the unbelievable and unnecessary delay in this case, we are incredibly pleased for clean athletes that this sad saga has finally come to an end and hope they can find joy and satisfaction in the fact that their long wait for justice is over," United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) chief executive Travis Tygart said.

"At the same time, our hearts hurt for yet another Russian athlete who the system has failed,” he further added.

What will happen next?

After the CAS declared the decision, the ROC will be demoted on the medal tally, winning the bronze medal despite Valieva getting suspended. Though the USA (65 points) and Japan (63 points) will now win the gold and silver medals, respectively, the ROC will remain in the third spot, as even without Valieva’s contribution points, they are a point clear of Canada (54 points), which stood fourth in the original counting, the International Skating Union (ISU) said on Tuesday (Jan 30). 

However, from the beginning, Valieva’s case presented a dilemma, as her age should have ensured her confidentiality under WADA rules for "protected persons" younger than 16. Partly as a result of her case, the ISU is said to raise the age limit for its senior category from 15 to 17 this year, citing the "physical, mental and emotional health" of competitors.

ROC to appeal against the decision

Having already labelled this as a politically motivated move against the ROC, Kamila Valieva’s spokesperson said if any opportunity to appeal against the call comes across, they will go for it.

"If there are any opportunities to challenge and continue to defend the rights of our athletes, they must be mobilised to the end,” Dmitry Peskov said.

Besides, after these comments, the ROC, in its statement, said its lawyers are preparing to contest the latest standings, which sees ROC fall to third place.

"We base ourselves on the fact that, in accordance with the current applicable ISU rules, the consequences of sanctions against an individual athlete, in this case, Kamila Valieva, cannot serve as the basis for revising the results of the team event," ROC said.