In the doping scandal surrounding figure skater Kamila Valieva, more and more details are coming to light – and they are worrying.
So far, Kamila Valieva was “only” concerned with a banned substance, now the Russian figure skater could even have had a potentially dangerous drug cocktail in her blood.
Because according to information from the “New York Times”, two other drugs were discovered during the doping test of the only 15-year-old exceptional athlete, which, like the illicit drug trimetazidine, are used for heart problems.
The combination of the three substances trimetazidine, L-carnitine and hypoxene “appears to be aimed at increasing endurance, reducing fatigue and promoting more efficient use of oxygen,” said Travis Tygart, head of the US Anti-Doping Agency USADA.
According to a decision by the Sports Court CAS, the talent of the century from Moscow may take part in the women’s individual competition at the Olympic Winter Games in Beijing, in which she will be the leader in the freestyle on Thursday (from 6 p.m. ET/11 a.m. decision goes. However, the final results of this competition are preliminary, as are the results of the team event, where the Russian team prevailed.
Trimetazidine a grandfather’s drug?
The Russian defense is now: trimetazidine is a drug her grandfather used, from whose glass she drank. The European champion had to take Hypoxen to treat cardiac arrhythmias, since L-carnitine, which is also legal, helps against circulatory disorders. Which raises the question of whether a young person with such health problems should do top-level sport at all.
But figure skating is one of the most popular sports in Russia, victories and medals are of immense importance for the political leadership and the numerous fans. “I’m firmly convinced that Kamila’s trainer, Eteri Tutberidze, will do everything, including illegal things, to help her athlete progress. The human factor and pain don’t count for much,” said Daniel Weiss to the Donaukurier from Ingolstadt.
Hardly anyone in Germany knows Valieva as well as the “ARD” commentator, who is also the organizer of ice shows: “The child has so much talent that you can’t drown it.” But even the two-time German champion considers the explanation with the grandfather implausible: “It almost reminds me of Dieter Baumann’s toothpaste.”
“Careers Like Disposable Coffee Cups”
In general, Tutberidze: The 47-year-old is notorious for quickly bringing her young runners to the top before they burn up all the more quickly.
This was the case in the recent past with Julia Lipnitskaya (team Olympic champion 2015), two-time world champion Yevgeniya Medvedeva and Alina Zagitova (individual Olympic champion 2018). “Careers like disposable coffee cups,” is how Rafael Arutyunyan, coach of US Olympic champion Nathan Chen, describes this development.
Her own daughter Diana Davis was also a member of the Tutberidze club “Sambo-70”. Until it became clear that her talent would not be enough, after that her mother sent her to ice dance. “She’s as strict as mothers are,” said the 19-year-old, who finished 14th in Beijing.
Nicole Schott starts the freestyle final with exactly this placement. The sports soldier from Essen has long since accepted that she will hardly improve this position: “When I was 15, I often only had 40 minutes of ice time a day. But maybe that’s why I can still practice my sport at 25.” And without trimetazidine, hypoxene and L-carnitine.