Months After Beijing Olympics Doping Scandal, Russian Figure Skater Kamila Valieva Faces Massive Blow

Kamila Valieva is a famous Russian figure skater, dancer, businesswoman, and social media celebrity. At the mere age of 16, Valieva successfully created nine new world records in her career. Moreover, she has dominated and won various championships including the 2022 European Championship, the 2021 Rostelecom Cup, the 2021 and 2022 Russian National Championship, and the 2021 Skate Canada International.

Kamila was sprouting flawlessly in her career until December 2021. In 2021, she tested positive for a banned substance called trimetazidine. It’s a heart medicine known to help in increasing endurance. Although, the RUSADA (Russian Anti-Doping Agency) had been working on this case, it has  now been referred to CAS (Court of Arbitration for Sport) by WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency).

WADA previously sent a formal notice to RUSADA

Kamila Valieva, 16, last competed in an event in Beijing, in 2022. She took the Russian Olympic Committee to victory in the event. Valieva did an outstanding quadruple jump and became the first woman to do so in the Winter Olympics. Post-event, RUSADA suspended Kamila when the drug test report was analyzed and reported to RUSADA during the Olympics.

After waiting and observing for a long, WADA realized there was no progression in the case result from RUSADA. And seeing that, it was decided not to further delay the outcome of the case and refer it to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

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On Tuesday, the President of the WADA, Witold Bańka, released a statement. He said, “Despite putting RUSADA under formal notice to resolve the Kamila Valieva case promptly, no progress was made. Therefore, I can confirm WADA has now officially referred it directly to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.” 

The CAS hasn’t confirmed the referral of the case of Kamila Valieva yet

Although Witold has stated the official referral to the CAS, the CAS is yet to confirmed it. When the CAS was asked about the referral of the case, they said, “will publish a media release once the appeal has been received and registered.” 

RUSADA commented in October about the case’s progression. They said the investigation is completed and they are in the final resolution towards the case. On the other hand, Valieva hadn’t explained her side of the positive doping test publically. But the International Olympic Committee, aka IOC, revealed that Valieva blamed the positive result on a mix-up she had with one of her grandfather’s drugs that he used for his heart treatment. 

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It is not possible to predict the future, but for now, the case looks set to be going into the safe hands of CAS. The WADA had done the formalities on their side, and soon the documentation and registration will get done on the CASs side as well.