Fifteen-year-old Kamila Valieva marked her Olympic debut last week by becoming the first female figure skater to land a hugely demanding quadruple jump, as the Russian and her compatriots leapt into first place in the team event.
Two days later Valieva was told that she had tested positive for a banned drug, thrusting the young star into the center of an international dispute that has disrupted two medal events and refocused scrutiny on the International Olympic Committee’s relations with Russia – already under a national ban for state-sponsored doping.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled on Monday that Valieva could continue to compete in this week’s individual skating event while appealing her positive drugs test. The decision sparked anger from athletes’ groups and western competitors who placed the blame at the ineffectiveness of the IOC’s existing sanctions against Russia.
It is blatantly clear that Valieva would have never been placed in this position if the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada), the International Olympic Committee (IOC), and the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) had done their jobs and banned Russia from global sport, ”said Global Athlete, an advocacy group that aims to address power imbalances between sports administrators and competitors.
“Russia has never been incentivised to reform because sport leaders favored politics over principle and rebranding over banning,” the group added.
Western Olympic officials, including from the US, Germany and Canada, expressed regret at the CAS decision, with US Olympic and Paralympic Committee chief executive Sarah Hirshland calling the Valieva case “another chapter in the systemic and pervasive disregard for clean sport by Russia”.
Russia has been officially banned from international sporting events since December 2017, as punishment for its state-sponsored doping program at the 2014 Winter Olympics held in Sochi.
The ban, which is set to expire at the end of the year after the CAS approved an appeal to cut the prohibition in half, restricts Russia from sporting its own flag or playing its national anthem at the Olympics but has not been prevented hundreds of its athletes, including Valieva, from competing under the Russian Olympic Committee banner.
Thomas Weikert, president of Germany’s Olympic federation, said on Monday that it was “clear that allowing the ban against Russian sports to expire at the end of 2022 does not take sufficient account of the differences between the individual sports”. He continued: “A case-by-case approach to each sport might be more appropriate in terms of a consistent anti-doping fight.”
The IOC has faced persistent criticism over its handling of Russian doping, including this week in Beijing after Valieva’s positive test came to light.
Asked if the IOC was “tough enough with Russia in the first place” and whether its athletes should even be in Beijing, spokesman Mark Adams said the Olympic body had taken “tough action but appropriate action” in its sanctions.
“We do not have mass justice against groups of people; we take out individuals who are proven guilty, ”he said. “The central principle of the IOC is that we have to be politically neutral, that we do not bow to either side.”
In the case of Valieva, her positive test for the banned heart medicine trimetazidine came at the Russian national figure skating championships in December, and is therefore under the jurisdiction of Russian anti-doping authorities, rather than the IOC.
Olympic officials were disappointed with the CAS ruling, according to a person familiar with the matter. In a gesture of its frustration, the IOC took the unusual step of preemptively canceling the medal ceremony for the women’s figure skating competition, which begins on Tuesday, in the event that Valieva finished in the top three.
In strained language, the IOC said it had to “follow the rule of law and will therefore have to allow her to compete”.
Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin’s spokesman, said on Monday that he hoped the IOC would eventually award Russia’s figure skaters the gold they won in the team event, adding that “the whole country wants Kamila to win the Olympics”.
Amid the furore, Valieva has continued to train in Beijing. Due to her age she is considered a “protected person” by international anti-doping rules. Both Rusada and Wada have said they would investigate Valieva’s support staff to the extent they may be responsible in the doping matter.
Valieva is the brightest talent to emerge from the stable of young figure skaters trained by Eteri Tutberidze, a renowned but controversial coach. She trained the women’s gold and silver medallists at the Winter Olympics four years ago, both of whom have since disappeared from the top ranks.
Each of the female Russian figure skating competitors in Beijing are Tutberidze protégés, all under the age of 18 and trained to complete demanding quadruple jumps that critics say may be pushing the sport too far.
The banned substance trimetazidine improves blood flow in the body and can be used by athletes to train harder.
“There is a fundamental question of what kind of competitive sports we actually want,” said Weikert. “Young athletes must be given time. A humane competitive sport must not demand too much too early. ”
Tara Lipinski, who aged 15 won figure skating gold for the US at the 1998 Olympics, said in a tweet that, regardless of Valieva’s age, she should not be allowed to compete in Beijing. “I believe this will leave a permanent scar on our sport,” she said.
Additional reporting by Max Seddon in Moscow
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