Kamila Valieva doping case verdict deadline set for Jan. 2024
The Russian doping case forced the US figure skating team to wait more than a year and a half to get a medal at the 2022 Winter Olympics.
LAUSANNE, Switzerland – Judgment at the Beijing Olympics doping case of Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva will be awarded at the end of January, the Court of Arbitration for Sport said on Friday after the fifth day of appeal proceedings.
The new deadline set by CAS should resolve the case nearly two years after the then-15-year-old boy’s doping test rocked the 2022 Winter Olympics in China.
Valieva’s positive test result for the banned heart drug was only revealed after she helped the Russian team win an Olympic gold medal in Beijing – and more than six weeks after a sample was taken at the national championships which she won in St. Petersburg. The testing laboratory in Stockholm, Sweden, cited staffing issues during the COVID-19 pandemic for delaying results.
No medals in the team event were ever awarded in Beijing, where the United States won silver, Japan won bronze and Canada placed fourth. They will be upgraded if Valieva is eliminated.
Valieva’s defense argued that her positive test result was due to accidental contamination – possibly from a cup or plate – by pills her grandfather claimed he had taken.
She placed fourth in the women’s event with an error-free program under pressure and close scrutiny. The previous CAS jury meeting in Beijing allowed her to continue competing despite her positive test result.
A CAS jury heard three days of testimony in September and two more this week. Valieva testified by video link from Russia.
The World Anti-Doping Agency has requested a ban until December 2025.
Valieva has not skated internationally since Beijing because of the ISU’s ban on Russians following the country’s invasion of Ukraine.
