By: Angelina Tang
Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva finally received a hearing for her doping scandal at the Beijing 2022 Olympics in September 2023–only for proceedings to be put on hold for over a month. Being tried in Lausanne, Switzerland, by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), Valieva’s hearing is to resume on roughly November 9-10.
Back on February 7th, 2022, during the Beijing Olympics, then-15-year-old Valieva won Russia the team figure skating gold medal. However, a day later, it was revealed that she had tested positive for trimetatizine, a banned heart medicine, on December 25, 2021, during the Russian figure skating championships. Russia had, however, still allowed her to compete in the Olympics, sparking controversy as the medal ceremony for the team event was canceled.
For a year following the scandal, the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) has pushed off and postponed the case until the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) stepped in, appealed the case, and finally brought it to the Court of Arbitration of Sport, the top sports-related tribunal in the world. In September 2023, a three-day initial hearing finally began, with the RUSADA, WADA, International Skating Union, and Valieva herself present as the primary parties. At the end of the three days, though, one of the parties—whose identity has not been disclosed—requested some documents that were not available on file. As such, the CAS was forced to put the deliberation on pause so that it could obtain the necessary documentation.
The WADA has been appealing for Valieva to receive a four-year suspension from figure skating and disqualification from future Olympics. Meanwhile, the American, Japanese, and Canadian figure skating teams have been waiting nearly two years for this case to be resolved, as if Valieva’s case result invalidates her performance in the competition, their teams will move up and receive the gold, silver, and bronze medals respectively. However, many of the skaters have already felt that the damage has been done. For instance, Vincent Zhou of the American team has made statements about how the case exemplifies the “history of doping scandals in the Olympics and in figure skating.” Russia has indeed had a long-standing history of doping culture in athletics, and the RUSADA has been widely criticized for helping athletes dope, including in this case, where they are petitioning that a reprimand should be all Valieva receives, if anything at all.
Valieva herself has attended the hearing through video conference. Her defense is that there must’ve been contamination from some tablets her grandfather took, which perhaps left a trace on a glass and got mixed up with hers. As for the fate of this case and Valieva’s possible future in figure skating—only time will tell.
