“An Error Was Made”: Kamila Valieva Doping Case Takes a Fresh Turn as IOC Member Makes New Claim

The case of Kamila Valieva has triggered a cascade of consequences, not just for her but for the nations that participated in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. On January 29, 2024, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) banned the 17-year-old Russian figure skating icon from the sport for four years and stripped Russia of its gold medal win at the Olympics. However, the International Skating Union (ISU) was tasked with reordering the team skating medals after Valieva’s disqualification.

The United States was allotted the gold, while Japan came in second for silver, and Russia moved to third for bronze. However, this decision has sparked global debate. And now, an insider of the IOC has also claimed that the decision was an error.

An IOC Insider adds new intrigue to the Kamila Valieva case

Christine Brennan, a sports journalist for USA Today, shared on X that there’s a controversy in figure skating regarding the 2022 Olympic team’s bronze medal. Her post read, “New: IOC member Dick Pound tells me re: ROC over CAN for team bronze: “Clearly there has been an error made.”

According to Pound, the math behind determining the medal standings is not very complicated, and there shouldn’t be a need for a legal proceeding to resolve the issue. He believes that the mistake needs to be corrected as soon as possible. He even told Brennan, ” The longer it goes on, the worse the ISU looks.” This statement by Dick Pound adds to the existing questions about the decision.

The debate surrounding the medal allocations

On January 30, according to USA Today’s Christine Brennan, Skate Canada raised concerns about the ISU’s decision, citing a specific rule (Rule 353(4)(a)) stating that disqualified competitors lose their placements, and others move up accordingly, meaning Canada should get bronze instead of Russia. Skate Canada expressed their disappointment with the ISU’s decision and said they might appeal to challenge or disagree with the decision and ask for it to be changed, according to Christine Brennan.

Read more: Days After Doping Ban, Kamila Valieva Breaks Silence

Travis Tygart from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency also supports applying discipline-specific rules and believes it’s unfair for Russia to keep the bronze. While Russia claimed that the results shouldn’t change based on Valieva’s case and questioned the objectivity of the decisions. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) had kept the medals on hold until the Valieva case was resolved. Now, there’s uncertainty about when and how the medals will be awarded. What do you think about the situation? Comment below!

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