OUTRAGE: Doping Russian Minor Allowed to Continue Olympic Competition
Of all of the troubling details that have emerged from the sphere of the Beijing Olympics, perhaps none is as scandalous as the story of Kamila Valieva, the 15 year old Russian figure skater who was found to have failed a drug test back in December.
Valieva is technically competing for the “Russian Olympic Committee”, not “Russia”, on account of the latter’s current ban from the games on account of another doping scandal that took place previously.
Now, in an abjectly strange ruling, a court has decided to allow Valieva to continue her Olympic schedule, but the IOC was pushing back in their own way.
The International Olympic Committee, looking to contain the potential damage from the ongoing story of Russian skater Kamila Valieva, has ruled that if Valieva wins a medal in the women’s single skating competition this week, no medal ceremonies will be held during the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing.
The IOC also announced that it will not hold a medal ceremony during the Games for the team skate competition which Russia, led by Valieva, won last week.
Valieva’s age was a factor in the decision.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport has ruled that Valieva is permitted to participate in the competition despite the fact that she tested positive for the banned substance trimetazidine in a sample taken on Dec. 25, 2021. The CAS indicated that its decision was procedural rather than judgmental, and offered no opinion on whether Valieva violated anti-doping rules. The CAS cited several factors for its decision, most notably that the 15-year-old Valieva is a “protected person,” which essentially means she’s too young to fully understand what substances she might be taking.
The scandal was just the latest in a long line of controversies in Beijing, in which athletes and officials alike have complained about inhumane conditions, rigged referees, and inconsistent judging.
