2022 Beijing Olympics – Figure Skating – Training – Training Rink Capital Indoor Stadium, Beijing, China – February 11, 2022. Kamila Valieva of the Russian Olympic Committee during training REUTERS/Evgenia Novozhenina
February 12, 2022
By Karolos Grohmann
(Reuters) – The delay in Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva receiving her positive drug test result, which allowed her to compete and win a gold medal at the Beijing Games, loomed large on Saturday as Olympic and anti-doping officials sought to reinstate her ban.
More than six weeks went by between Valieva’s sample being taken on Dec. 25 and Feb. 8 when she was notified by a lab in Stockholm, Sweden that she had tested positive for the banned heart medication trimetazidine. Valieva and her Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) team won a gold medal a day earlier.
The Stockholm lab is accredited by the World Anti-Doping Association (WADA).
The Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) and the Russian Anti-Doping Association have questioned the timeline.
On Saturday, the International Olympic Committee said the delay was a question for WADA.
“I can’t speak directly about the delay. It was a WADA-sanctioned lab in Stockholm so that is a question that should be directed to WADA.”
WADA could not be immediately contacted by Reuters.
Valieva was suspended by the Russian anti-doping body after the positive test report, but the suspension was lifted a day later after she appealed, allowing her to continue to compete. Her next event, the singles figure skating, is on Tuesday.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) have asked the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to reinstate Kalieva’s suspension.
(Editing by Leela de Kretser; Editing by Michael Perry)
Source: One America News Network
