Kamila Valieva, the skater at the center of a doping scandal at the 2022 Winter Olympics, has been kicked out of the Russian national team, according to Russia’s state news agency TASS, Reuters and The Moscow Times.
“Valieva is currently not on the list of the Russian national team. Everything is being done in accordance with legal documents,” Alexander Kogan, general director of the Figure Skating Federation of Russia (FSFR), told TASS on Thursday.
No further reason was given for Valieva’s removal, despite finishing third at the recent Russian national championships held in December.
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On January 29, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled to disqualify Valieva for four years for anti-doping violations beginning on December 25, 2021. The ruling voided all of her results from that date forward, including the 2022 Winter Olympics that were held in February.
Valieva, 17, was the world record holder in women’s figure skating in the short program, free skate and all-around to qualify for the Beijing Games. Just 15 years old at the time, Valieva was a hot favorite and led Russia to gold in the team event.
After the team competition and before the individual competition, Valieva tested positive for the banned substance trimetazidine. The drug is used to treat angina, a condition that causes severe chest pain. dr. Sean Heffron, a preventive cardiologist, told PEOPLE at the time that the drug could help Valieva “train with more intensity.”
Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva is training for the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. Andrew Milligan/PA Images via Getty Images
Despite the protests, Valieva was allowed to compete in the individual discipline, and even took first place after the short program. However, she suffered a crash in the free skate and finished just off the podium in fourth.
With all of her results as of December 25, 2021 voided, Team USA moved from second place in the 2022 Olympic team competition to first place. Nine American skaters — Evan Bates, Karen Chen, Nathan Chen, Madison Chock, Zachary Donohue, Brandon Frazier, Madison Hubbell, Alexa Knierim and Vincent Zhou — will receive gold medals more than two years after competing at the Games.
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Meanwhile, Valieva’s removal will have no immediate impact on the upcoming 2024 World Figure Skating Championships in Montreal. Russia and Belarus have been indefinitely banned from international skating competitions since March 2022 due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
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Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education