Controversial figure skater Kamila Valieva is set to return to action at a Russian event just 37 days after the Winter Olympics… as the Russian Anti-Doping Agency intends to decide on possible sanctions in six months.
- Kamila Valieva will return to competition just 37 days after the Olympics
- She flopped in figure skating finals after being eliminated despite failing drug test
- The Russian anti-doping agency intends to spend six months to make a final decision
- The asterisk remains attached to the result of the Olympic team competition.
37 days after her dramatic fall at the Winter Olympics, Kamila Valieva will return to competition in Saransk this weekend without a final decision in the doping case that has marred the Beijing Games.
The 15-year-old Russian figure skater will take part in the Channel One Cup, the only Russian event to coincide with the World Championships, which kicks off Wednesday in Montpellier and is banned from all Russian skaters due to sanctions. introduced after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Russian reports this week indicated that the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) intends to use its allotted six months from the date of notification of Valieva’s alleged offense to decide on possible sanctions. the decision will be postponed until August at the earliest.
Kamila Valieva will return to competition just 37 days after the Winter Olympics scandal
There are no clear conclusions from the doping case that has marred the Beijing Games.
The asterisk remains attached to the result of the Olympic team event, which was won by the Russian team, which included Valieva, and for which no medals have yet been awarded, despite unsuccessful appeals to the Court of Arbitration for Sport by the current silver medalists. , United States.
Valieva was allowed to continue competing in Beijing despite the confirmation of a positive test result for an illegal heart drug after the CAS upheld RUSADA’s decision to lift her automatic suspension, effectively on welfare grounds due to her age.
Valieva, whose team blamed her for accidentally infecting her grandfather’s heart drugs, fell several times during the free skate, losing first place she held after a nearly flawless short program, and eventually finishing fourth.
Valieva was cleared to compete despite confirmation of a prohibited heart drug.
On a night of extraordinary drama at the capital’s indoor arena, Valieva was apparently pilloried by her controversial coach Eteri Tutberidze after retiring from the ice, drawing criticism from International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach, who said he was “very, very concerned with her answer. .
Valieva returned to Russia, where she continued to train with Tutberidze.
Footage posted by former Olympic silver medalist Evgenia Medvedeva, another former student of Tutberidze, this week on her Telegram channel shows Valieva effortlessly performing a difficult quadruple salchow.
Olympic champion Anna Shcherbakova and silver medalists in doubles Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov, as well as runners-up in ice dancing Victoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapov will also compete in Saransk.
Anna Shcherbakova (pictured) also plans to compete in Saransk this weekend.
But Alexandra Trusova, who had to settle for a silver medal in Beijing despite landing five quads and who subsequently threatened to “never step on the ice again” in a tearful post-competition tirade, withdrew from the event amid continued speculation. . over its competitive future.
The absence of Russians is far from the only problem affecting the World Cup.
Men’s gold medalist Nathan Chen and Japanese superstar Yuzuru Hanyu have both pulled out of the competition with injuries, and Chinese figure skaters, including doubles champions Sui Wenjing and Han Cong, will also be out of the competition.
Gold medalist Nathan Chen (pictured) and Yuzuru Hanyu withdrew from the competition due to injuries.
Japan’s Kaori Sakamoto, who won the bronze medal in Beijing, will be the favorite for the women’s competition, while the men’s competition could complete the timely rehabilitation of Vincent Zhou, who was forced to miss the Beijing event due to contracting Covid-19.
Inevitably, the legitimacy of Montpellier was rejected in Russia, with Russian Figure Skating Union President Alexander Gorshkov tacitly acknowledging that the Channel One Cup was intended to eclipse an event to which its skaters were excluded.
“The Channel One Cup will take place in Saransk the same week as the World Championships,” Gorshkov, himself a former Olympic champion, said late last month. ‘Random or not? It’s up to you.