Russian doping agency says teen skater Kamila Valieva not a drugs cheat, won’t punish her
- World Anti-Doping Agency ‘concerned’ by finding, will appeal result at Court of Arbitration for Sport
- Valieva tested positive for the banned substance in December 2021, before she won gold at the Beijing Olympics
The Russian Anti-Doping Agency investigation into figure skater Kamila Valieva’s failed drug test has ruled that the teenager was not guilty of any doping infraction, the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) said.
The world agency said Russian authorities had determined that although Valieva had committed an anti-doping rule violation, she bore “no fault or negligence” for it.
As such, the tribunal imposed no sanction except for the disqualification of her results on the date of the sample collection on December 25, 2021 before the then 15-year-old competed at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
Wada had been seeking a four-year ban and said in a statement that it was “concerned” by the finding and would not hesitate to exercise its right of appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
Valieva tested positive for the banned substance trimetazidine at the Russian national championships in December 2021 but the result was only made known on Feb. 8, a day after she helped her team win a gold medal at the Beijing Olympics.
In her defence, Valieva said the positive test was the result of a mix-up with her grandfather’s heart medication.
During the Beijing Games, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) had decided no medals for the team figure skating event would be presented until Valieva’s case had been resolved.
The United States took silver behind the Russians, with Japan getting the bronze and Canada placing fourth.
