By Julien Pretot and Karolos Grohmann
BEIJING (Reuters) – The Court of Arbitration for Sport’s (CAS) ruling on teenage Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva will determine whether she can compete in the women’s singles at the Beijing Games, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said on Monday.
CAS is ruling on an appeal by the IOC, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the International Skating Union (ISU) against the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) lifting Valieva’s provisional ban after she tested positive for a banned angina drug last year.
CAS concluded its hearing on the 15-year-old early on Monday and is expected to announce its ruling around 2 p.m. local time (0600 GMT), when Valieva has a scheduled practice session.
The women’s singles event takes place on Tuesday.
“I can’t tell you the absolute gospel truth but my understanding is that the decision will tell you whether she will or will not be competing tomorrow,” IOC spokesman Mark Adams told a news conference.
“The IOC will follow the Court or Arbitration for Sport’s decision, whether we like it nor not.
“We will follow the decision absolutely because it is our job and we will follow that decision to the letter.”
Valieva’s sample was collected on Dec. 25 at the Russian national championships but the result was only made public on Feb. 8, the day after Valieva led the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) to victory in the team event.
Valieva’s provisional suspension was lifted by RUSADA on Feb. 9.
Russian athletes are competing in Beijing under a neutral flag due to doping sanctions.
The medal ceremony for the team event has been delayed. The United States finished the second, with Japan third and Canada in fourth place.
Adams said it was unlikely that the medals would be handed out during these Games.
“All the other issues will have to be discussed further into the Games,” he added. “This (the medals) will not be sorted out by this decision. That will probably not be sorted out during this Games.”
(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann and Julien Pretot; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
