BEIJING (Reuters) – Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva, who won gold in the team event at the Beijing Olympics last Monday, failed a drug test for a banned substance before the Games.
Here is a summary of key dates in the story:
Dec. 25: Valieva submitted a urine test at Russia’s national figure skating championships in St. Petersburg, where she won the women’s singles event.
Feb. 1: Valieva arrived in Beijing for her first Olympics along with the rest of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) figure skating team. Russian athletes are competing without their flag and anthem because of sanctions for past doping violations.
Feb. 7: ROC won the team competition at the Beijing Games, with 15-year-old Valieva landing the first quadruple jumps by a woman in Olympic competition.
Feb. 8: Valieva’s adverse result from Dec. 25 was reported to the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) by a World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) accredited laboratory in Stockholm, Sweden. Valieva was provisionally suspended by RUSADA.
The scheduled Beijing Olympics medal ceremony for the team event was postponed indefinitely by organisers due to an unspecified “legal consultation”.
Feb. 9: Valieva challenged her provisional suspension before the RUSADA Disciplinary Anti-Doping Committee. The committee lifted the suspension for as yet undisclosed reasons.
Russian media reported that Valieva had returned a positive test.
Feb. 10: Valieva showed up for her scheduled practice at the rink near the Capital Indoor Stadium.
Feb. 11: After Valieva’s first practice session, the International Testing Agency (ITA) confirmed Valieva had failed a test for a banned substance before the Games.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Skating Union (ISU) said they would ask the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to overturn the Russian decision to lift her ban.
The ROC said Valieva’s tests were negative before and after Dec. 25 and that it was taking comprehensive measures to keep a gold medal won “honestly”.
RUSADA said it was investigating Valieva’s entourage because she is a minor.
Feb. 12: CAS said it had received the IOC and WADA’s appeals against the decision to lift Valieva’s provisional suspension.
Senior IOC member Dick Pound said Russia may need an Olympic “timeout” after the latest doping scandal.
Coach Eteri Tutberidze defended Valieva, saying she was certain the teenager was “clean and innocent”.
Feb. 13: WADA said it would ask its independent Intelligence and Investigations department to probe the coaches, doctors and other adults surrounding Valieva.
A panel of three judges for CAS will hear arguments at 8:30 p.m. local time (1230 GMT) from the IOC, WADA and ISU to reinstate the provisional ban lifted by RUSADA.
Feb. 14: CAS has said the panel’s decision over Valieva’s ban will be communicated “to the parties in the afternoon of Monday, 14 February 2022”.
Feb. 15: Valieva is scheduled to compete in the women’s singles competition at the Beijing Olympics.
(Compiled by Hritika Sharma; Editing by Christian Schmollinger and Ed Osmond)
