Kamila Valiyeva is one of the faces of the Beijing Winter Olympics. The young Russian produces a spectacular case of doping that the sports world will have to wait for the final clarification. This causes trouble for the anti-doping fighters.
The World Anti-Doping Agency has appealed to the International Court of Arbitration for Sport in the doping case of Russian figure skater Kamila Valiyeva because the Russian Anti-Doping Agency has still not come to a decision. "Although Rusada was formally asked to resolve the case of Kamila Valiyeva immediately, no progress has been made," said Wada President Witold Banka. "I can therefore confirm that Wada has now officially referred the case directly to the Sports Court."
Most recently, the world agency had encouraged Rusada to make its verdict public after the end of the investigation into the doping case that became public at the Winter Olympics in February. The Russian had tested positive for the banned substance trimetazidine before the Beijing games. The result of the doping test carried out in December 2021 only became known during the Winter Games after their team Olympic victory. Because Valiyeva was only 15 at the time, she was considered a "protected person" under the World Anti-Doping Code. For this reason, Rusada wants to keep the verdict secret.
In Beijing, the International Court of Arbitration for Sports CAS had allowed Valiyeva to take part in the individual Olympic competition, regardless of the ongoing proceedings. However, the IOC had decided that there would be no medal ceremonies with the participation of the 15-year-olds in Beijing and that they should be made up for in a dignified manner after the end of the process. It is therefore still completely open when the award ceremony that was canceled in the Chinese capital can be made up for. In the individual, the medal winners got a medal ceremony: After a first place after the short program, the exceptionally talented Valiewa collapsed under the immense pressure of the public in the free program and fell back to fourth place.
Like all Russian athletes, she was not allowed to start at this year's World Championships in Montpellier because of the war of aggression in Ukraine. Most recently, Valiewa appeared in Russian ice shows and took part in skating shows in her home country.
