The Court of Arbitration for Sport on Monday, allowed Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva to compete in the women’s single in figure skating at the Beijing Winter Olympics. CAS cited the fact that Valieva is a “protected person” under World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) rules as one of the exceptional circumstances underpinning its decision.
Following the decision, the US Olympic Committee said it was “disappointed” by the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s decision Monday to allow teenage skater Kamila Valieva to compete again at the Beijing Olympics.
“We are disappointed by the message this decision sends,” USOPC CEO Sarah Hirshland said, adding: “This appears to be another chapter in the systemic and pervasive disregard for clean sport by Russia.”
Meanwhile, Russia’s Olympic Committee on Monday welcomed the announcement that figure skater Kamila Valieva has been cleared to continue competing in the Beijing Olympics despite failing a doping test.
“Tomorrow the whole country will support her and all our wonderful female skaters in the individuals competition,” the committee said on Telegram, calling it the “best news of the day”.
The result of Valieva’s positive drug test was not revealed until Feb. 8 after she had competed in the team event at the Winter Games, dazzling the world with the first quad jumps ever completed in the women’s Olympic competition.
CAS emphasized the “serious issues of untimely notification of the results” in its decision. “Such late notification was not her fault, in the middle of the Olympic Winter Games,” the ruling said.
The CAS also revealed that it had rejected appeals by the International Olympic Committee, the World Anti-Doping Agency and the International Skating Union to have the suspension of the 15-year-old reinstated
The figure skater is one of the youngest athletes to face a doping charge during the Olympics, prompting global outrage at the role of the adults around the teenage skater and the continuing scourge of Russian doping in international sports.
(With Agency Inputs)
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