WADA push for lengthy doping ban for Olympic gold medallist Russian ice skater

It emerged at last year’s Winter Olympics that Valieva had returned a positive drugs test in 2021

Jamie Gardner
Tuesday 21 February 2023 10:37 EST
Comments
WADA has appealed to CAS in the case of Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva (Andrew Milligan/PA)
WADA has appealed to CAS in the case of Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva (Andrew Milligan/PA) (PA Archive)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

The World Anti-Doping Agency has appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in the Kamila Valieva case and is seeking a back-dated four-year ban for the skater.

It emerged mid-competition at the Winter Olympic Games in Beijing last year that Russian athlete Valieva, then 15, had returned a positive doping test in 2021.

Last month WADA published the findings of a Russian anti-doping agency (Rusada) tribunal, which found Valieva, who had won an Olympic gold in the team event in Beijing, bore “no fault or negligence” for the positive test.

On Tuesday WADA said in a statement: “WADA has carefully reviewed the full reasoned decision and file related to the case of Russian Olympic Committee figure skater, Kamila Valieva.

“Accordingly, WADA considers the finding by the disciplinary tribunal of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency that the athlete bore ‘no fault or negligence’ to be wrong under the terms of the World Anti-Doping Code in this case and has exercised its right to lodge an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

“Within the appeal, WADA is seeking a four-year period of ineligibility and disqualification of all the athlete’s results from the date of the sample collection on December 25, 2021.

“As it has sought to do throughout this process, WADA will continue to push for this matter to proceed without further undue delay.

“Given the case is now pending before CAS, WADA can make no further comment at this time.”

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in