Teenage figure skater Kamila Valieva bore “no fault or negligence” for a positive doping test, the Russian Anti-Doping Agency has found.
Kamila Valieva at the 2022 Winter Olympics
Photo: AFP
She will not face any sanctions except the disqualification of her results when the sample was taken in 2021.
The World Anti-Doping Agency says it is concerned by the finding and may appeal against the decision.
Valieva, then 15, was allowed to compete at the Beijing Winter Olympics despite a failed drugs test.
Rusada said in November it had no intention of releasing the results of its doping investigation into Valieva “in order to protect the interests of the figure skater”.
However, Wada released the findings today after being informed of the decision by Rusada.
It said it had “requested a copy of the full reasoned decision, which it will review together with the case file in order to determine whether the ruling is in line with the terms of the World Anti-Doping Code.
“However, based on the elements of the case with which Wada is already familiar, the agency is concerned by the finding of ‘no fault or negligence’ and will not hesitate to exercise its right of appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, as appropriate,” Wada added.
WADA had been seeking a four-year ban.
Valieva tested positive for the banned substance trimetazidine at the Russian national championships in December 2021 but the result was only made known on Feb. 8, a day after she helped her team win a gold medal at the Beijing Olympics.
In her defence, Valieva said the positive test was the result of a mix-up with her grandfather’s heart medication.
CAS had cleared Valieva to continue competing at the Beijing Games in February, upholding an earlier decision by RUSADA to lift a ban on the skater.
CAS had cited the fact that Valieva was a “protected person” under WADA rules as one of the “exceptional circumstances” underpinning its decision. The CAS ruling did not address the merits of Valieva’s drug case.
At the time, WADA president Witold Banka had expressed his disappointment with the decision, saying that the “doping of children is evil and unforgivable”.
-BBC/Reuters
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