BEIJING. Russian figure skater Kamila Valiyev trained at the Winter Olympics on Saturday.
She is awaiting the verdict of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which will decide on Monday whether the 15-year-old gold medalist from the Beijing team competition can start among the soloists. Their competition will start with a short program on Tuesday.
CAS has been approached by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the International Skating Union (ISU) and, separately, the International Testing Agency (ITA) to prevent Valiyev from starting. The reason is doping a young sensation.
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The Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) stopped it after a positive doping finding, but canceled the suspension on Wednesday. On Sunday, CAS will discuss via video conference.
In the coach’s arms
The young Russian fell during training while trying for a triple axel, which according to the AP agency jumps regularly without any problems.
Subsequently, as part of the short program test, she mastered two combinations of triple jumps. During the general race of about 45 minutes, she was overcome by emotions and was comforted in her arms by coach Eteri Tutberidze.
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“I am 100% sure that Kamila is pure and innocent. I do not know who and how she will decide, but I hope that justice will win in some way,” Tutberidze, a 47-year-old who has achieved significant success with the trustees, told Russia’s first-line television station. according to some opinions, it uses controversial methods.
It was the coaching staff around Valiyeva that came to the attention in the doping case of a teenager.
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“As a minor sportswoman, RUSADA has begun investigating her implementation team. The main purpose of this investigation is to find out all the details of a possible anti-doping rule violation in the interests of the defending person,” RUSADA said in a statement.
Criticism from the USA
Valiyev took a positive sample on December 25 during the Russian Championship. They found traces of the banned substance trimetazidine. The drug is used for angina or dizziness, as well as in the long-term treatment of ischemic heart disease. However, it is on WADA’s list of illicit vehicles because it increases blood flow.
At the January European Championships in Tallinn, Valiyev won gold and won the first major medal among adults. The accredited laboratory in Stockholm informed about its positive test only a day after the end of the team competition at the Olympic Games 2022.
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The head of the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), Travis Tygart, considers the 45-day delay to be absolutely unjustifiable.
“It’s a catastrophic system failure that is so unfortunate that it may seem intentional. I’m not saying it was intentional because I don’t know about it, but it certainly shouldn’t have happened,” Tygart said, according to which anti-doping laboratories usually report results before large events.
RUSADA said that the coronavirus pandemic, which slowed down processes at the Swedish workplace, was to blame. “I didn’t believe this excuse for a second. When there was a problem, they should have sent it to another lab,” Tygart added.
All information about the Beijing 2022 Olympic Games
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