Testing positive for trimetazidine during the Beijing Olympics in 2022, Russian skater Kamila Valieva was suspended for four years, starting December 25, 2021.
Published
Reading time: 3 min
Russian skater Kamila Valieva, revelation of the 2022 Winter Olympics, but tested positive for trimetazidine during a competition two months earlier, was suspended for four years from December 25, 2021. The decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (TAS) fell on Monday January 29. Franceinfo: sport recaps the two years of hesitation, between his positive test and the announcement of his sanction.
February 7, 2022: the Valieva pearl dazzles the planet
Kamila Valieva burst into the spotlight on February 7, during the team free program at the Beijing Winter Olympics. The young Russian prodigy, participating in her very first Games, achieved an authentic feat there. While no one had ever performed a quadruple jump in an Olympic event, Valieva accomplished the figure twice and won Olympic gold under the colors of the Russian Olympic Committee. Despite his prowess, no podium was established. Mute at first, the IOC mentioned, two days later, “a legal problem”. Without revealing any more details…
February 11, 2022: his positive test revealed
Four days later, the ITA, the body in charge of anti-doping controls, confirmed that Valieva tested positive for trimetazidine at the end of December 2021, during the Russian championships. This molecule, used to relieve angina, has been banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) since 2014. The prodigy was then 15 years old, and her young age made her a “protected person”.
The case is then transmitted to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which promises to deliver a verdict before February 15, the date of the women’s individual competitions. The day before the competition, Valieva was authorized to compete by the CAS, which nevertheless announced that no podium would be held in the event of a medal. After this series, the young skater mentally cracked and finished fourth in the free program. His case will set a precedent before the authorities, who will raise the minimum age to 17 years.
November 8, 2022: faced with Russian inertia, the World Anti-Doping Agency refers the matter to the CAS
At the end of October 2022, the Russian anti-doping agency announced its refusal to communicate the results of the investigation concerning the Valieva affair, with the aim of “guarantee the interests of the skater”. Its status as “protected person” at the time is then advanced. A few months earlier, in April 2022, Russian President Vladimir Putin had judged “impossible” that Valieva acted in a manner “dishonest”.
In the absence of “progress” on the Russian side, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) took the lead and referred the matter to the CAS on November 8. She has the right, in the event of “failure by an anti-doping organization to render a decision within a reasonable time”.
January 13, 2023: Russia clears Valieva, WADA contests
The Russian anti-doping agency finally decides to communicate… and decides to clear Kamila Valieva, considering that she had not committed “no fault or negligence”. WADA says “concerned” by this announcement and formally contests this verdict. On February 21, 2023, the body again referred the matter to the Administrative Sports Tribunal and requested a four-year suspension and the cancellation of all its results from December 25, 2021, the day of the positive test.
January 29, 2024: Valieva is sentenced
The Valieva case was examined for the first time by the CAS at the end of September, in Lausanne (Switzerland). But after three days of hearing behind closed doors, the panel of three referee judges decided to postpone the session to November 9 and 10, requesting that they be produced “other documents”. Following this second hearing, the CAS indicates that the results will be transmitted “at the end of January 2024”. On January 29, the CAS announced its suspension for four years from December 25, 2021, i.e. until December 25, 2025, which compromises its participation in the Milan-Cortina d’Ampezzo Olympic Games (February 6-22, 2026). All results obtained after December 25, 2021 are also canceled.