Figure skater Kamila Valieva banned for doping, Russians lose Olympic gold
- Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) found Valieva guilty of committing an anti-doping rule violation that rattled 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics
- Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov dismissed the 4-year ban as politically motivated. Valieva had tested positive for trimetazidine, which prevents angina
Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva received a four-year doping ban on Monday, effectively stripping the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) of its gold medal in the team event at the 2022 Beijing Winter Games nearly two years after the competition.
In its long-awaited ruling, the highest court in sport found Valieva guilty of committing an anti-doping rule violation that rattled the Beijing Olympics and frustrated competitors who are still waiting for their medals from the event to be allocated.
“Kamila Valieva is found to have committed an anti-doping rule violation and sanctioned with a four-year period of ineligibility commencing on 25 December 2021,” the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) said.
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Winter Olympics skater Kamila Valieva’s win under scrutiny after drug reports in Russian media
The court added that all of Valieva’s competitive results achieved since that date are voided, including the gold medal she helped ROC win in the team event at the 2022 Games.
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), one of the parties that brought the case to CAS, welcomed the decision, describing it as a victory for fair sport.
“I think for WADA and for clean sport, it means that after following due process a fair result to all athletes has been rendered by the Court of Arbitration for Sport,” WADA director general Olivier Niggli told Reuters.
“Even though the process might be a bit tortuous, the end result has been and is to the satisfaction of the clean athletes.
