Dylan Bettencourt
After testing positive for a banned substance, 15-year-old Kamila Valieva has become the youngest-ever Olympian to return a positive drug test.
While the Russian teenager looked calm during training on Sunday, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) will decide the athlete’s fate on Monday
Valieva tested positive for a banned heart drug at her national championships last December. But because confirmation took more than six weeks, she was cleared to compete in the Beijing Winter Olympics.
As the figure skater is a minor, questions have been raised about her team. The athlete’s entourage is being investigated for the incident.
Former Olympic skater Adam Rippon said he questioned whether the teenager knew she was doping ahead of the games.
“The adults around her are to blame. Valieva is 15. I doubt very much she knowingly doped. She’s a minor. The adults completely failed her,” Rippon told NPR.
Russia is no stranger to doping as an Olympic organisation. In 2019 the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) banned the country from all international competitions. Just three years later, the country faces another doping scandal.
The athletes do not directly represent Russia but are competing under the banner of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC).
Valieva’s highly controversial coach Eteri Tutberdize said her athlete was clean but admitted this was a difficult situation.
“I am absolutely sure that Kamila is innocent and clean. We are with our athletes, in trouble and in joy, to the end,” she said.
Valieva had a magnificent start to the tournament, when she became the first woman to perform a difficult quad jump to win her first Olympic gold.
But her stay at the Beijing games could come to an abrupt halt with the CAS decision on Monday.
Image source: @NewYorkPost
