Russian skater Valieva’s doping verdict due January 2024

Lausanne (AFP): The Court of Arbitration for Sport will deliver its verdict on the doping case involving Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva in January 2024, it said on Friday.

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and International Skating Union (ISU) are appealing Russia’s anti-doping agency (RUSADA) ruling that Valieva bore “no fault or negligence” for the positive test on December 25, 2021, when she won the Russian championships.

The test result emerged during the 2022 Winter Olympics, when Valieva was still just 15 years old. The case was adjourned in September after “further documentation” was requested, but the panel has since heard closing submissions and will now deliver a decision in January.

“The parties have been informed that the CAS Panel in charge of the matter will now deliberate and prepare the Arbitral Award containing its decision and grounds which is expected to be notified to the parties by the end of January 2024,” CAS said in a statement.

In Beijing in February 2022, Valieva, then 15, became the first female skater to land a quadruple jump in Olympic competition, helping Russia secure gold in the team event.

The next day, she was told she had tested positive before the Games for trimetazidine, a drug used to treat angina but which is banned for athletes. WADA and the ISU are demanding up to four years’ suspension and the cancellation of all Valieva’s results since the end of 2021.

Valieva has blamed “contamination by cutlery” shared with her grandfather, who was treated with trimetazidine and who drove her to training every day.