Beijing (AP) – After a more than five-hour hearing in the doping affair about figure skater Kamila Valiyeva, the sports judges are today making their verdict.
The decision on the right to start for the 15-year-old Russian in the Olympic women’s singles in Beijing is to be communicated to the parties to the dispute at around 2:00 p.m. local time (7:00 a.m. / CET). The women’s competition at the Winter Games begins on Tuesday with the short program, Valiewa is considered the gold favorite.
Valiyeva tested positive for heart medication
The ad hoc chamber of the Court of Arbitration for Sport must decide whether the Russian anti-doping agency (Rusada) was allowed to lift a provisional suspension of the European champion. The world’s best figure skater had already passed the doping test in December at the Russian championships. The positive result for the banned heart drug trimetazidine was only transmitted by the Stockholm doping laboratory on February 7th, Rusada had announced.
A day later, and thus after the end of the team competition at the Winter Games, Rusada pronounced a ban against Valiyeva. The super talent had previously won gold with the team. After an objection, Rusada lifted the suspension after just one day. Thus Valiewa should also compete in singles. According to the start list, she should be the 26th of 30 participants in the short program on Tuesday.
Negotiation behind closed doors
At the hearing of the three-person Cas committee, Valiyeva was present in the video booth. The hearing took place behind closed doors. From 8.34 p.m. to 2.10 a.m. the three sports lawyers from Italy, the USA and Slovenia listened to the arguments of the parties involved in the proceedings. The ad hoc commission will now advise and announce its decision, the Cas announced on Monday night.
The International Olympic Committee, the World Anti-Doping Agency and the World Skating Federation had appealed against Rusada’s lifting of the suspension. Possible further consequences for Valiewa and her companions because of the doping offense will only be decided at a later date. The awarding of medals at the team event, which Russia won ahead of the USA and Japan, is also not part of the urgent procedure.
In the Valiyeva doping case, the Cas does not rule out a subsequent change in the results of the Olympic team competition in Beijing. It is “not possible at this point in time to regard the results of the team competition as final,” said Cas director Matthieu Reeb of the German Press Agency. Those results may or may not be changed at a later date, Reeb said. Russia had won gold in Beijing ahead of the USA and Japan.