The scandal had shaken the Winter Olympics in Beijing in February 2022. Tested positive for a banned substance before the Chinese meeting, when she was only 15 years old, the Russian skater Kamila Valieva had despite all participated in the team and individual events. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) announced on Tuesday February 21 that it had seized the Court of Arbitration for Sport in this case.
Despite her positive control, the Russian skater had only been sanctioned by the Russian Anti-Doping Agency by the cancellation of her results on the date of the sample, i.e. December 25, 2021. The Russian disciplinary tribunal had estimated that the skater did not had committed “no fault or negligence”.
Through this appeal to the Lausanne court, WADA is asking for a four-year suspension from the date the sample was taken from the Russian skater. The world policeman of anti-doping also calls for the cancellation of all the results of the teenager.
In tears at the foot of the podium
Kamila Valieva’s positive test was revealed in February 2022, during the Beijing Games. The teenager had won Olympic gold in the team event under the banner of the Russian Olympic Committee, before it was announced that a sample, taken less than two months previously, had tested positive for trimetazidine, a banned substance.
The laboratory that was to analyze the sample had been affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, which had delayed its examination. No medal ceremony had taken place in this discipline in Beijing due to doubts surrounding the performance of the young Russian skater, pending the results of the investigation into her case. The United States, which was second, could eventually recover the gold.
Before the announcement of this positive control, Kamila Valieva was the favorite for the individual title. A pure product of the champion factory of the severe trainer Eteri Tutberidze, in Moscow, she performed in Beijing the first women’s quadruple jumps in Olympic history. After dominating the short program in a heavy climate, she collapsed in the free program to finally finish in tears, at the foot of the podium (4e).