Kamila Valiyeva danced around on the ice rink at Beijing’s Capital Indoor Stadium during practice yesterday as if nothing had ever happened. But the only 15-year-old figure skating prodigy may have slipped on the slippery doping floor.
According to the International Testing Agency (ITA), Kamila Valiyeva tested positive for the heart drug trimetazidine on December 25, 2021 at the Russian Figure Skating Championships and was provisionally suspended by the Russian doping agency Rusada. The Rusada Disciplinary Committee lifted the suspension on February 9 after Valiewa objected, paving the way for an Olympic start.
The IOC now wants to bring about clarification before the International Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) before the short program in women’s singles in Beijing on Tuesday. “We want to speed this up as much as possible,” said IOC spokesman Mark Adams. The Austrian Martina Spreitzer-Kropiunik is one of the six CAS members who have to make a decision before Tuesday in a Beijing hotel. She is a judge at the Vienna Criminal Court.
The fuss began when the Olympic organizers canceled the medal ceremony for the team competition, which was actually planned for Tuesday, without giving any other reasons. Russia had previously won it. But the athletes of this team are also under special observation in Beijing. The country is practically on probation at the Olympics because of the scandal surrounding state-organized doping and the cover-up of sports fraud at the 2014 games in Sochi. But there is hardly a trace of remorse, and Valiyeva now misses her as well. The team around her and the Rusada tend to see better defense in attack. Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) President Stanislav Pozdnyakov said the move raised “serious questions”. Moscow has already promised Valiyeva support “without ifs or buts”.
Substance increases blood flow
Trimetazidine is a substance banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency WADA since 2014, which is contained in medications used to treat angina pectoris. At the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang, the same substance was discovered in Russian bobsledder Nadezhda Sergeyeva, which WADA says can increase endurance and blood flow. Chinese swimming star Sun Yang was also caught using the drug in 2014.
Supertalent Valiyeva is one of the most prominent faces among Russian athletes at these Winter Games. It was only this season that she made her adult debut, and in January she won the European Championship title.
Source: Nachrichten
