Russian tribunal finds skater Valieva bore ‘no fault or negligence’ in doping case

A Russian court found figure skater Kamila Valieva “no fault or negligence” in the doping case that rocked last year’s Winter Olympics, the World Anti-Doping Agency said on Friday.

The Russian skater won Olympic gold in the team competition in February before it was announced that a sample she gave two months earlier tested positive for a banned substance. The results were reported later because the laboratory that tested the samples was affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

WADA is “concerned” that a Russian anti-doping agency panel decided that Valieva should be disqualified just one day from the 2021 Russian championships, where the sample was taken.

“The tribunal found that although the athlete had violated the Anti-Doping Rules, he was not guilty or negligent,” WADA said in a statement.

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Although Russian skaters are still banned from competing in ISU events due to the war, there are still many updates on the national team.

WADA said it would review the decision fully before deciding on further steps. WADA previously complained Russia was taking too long to make a decision on Valieva’s case and sought to have it transferred to the Swiss-based Court of Arbitration for Sport.

While WADA made earlier submissions about Russia’s slow progress in the case, the court said WADA had indicated it would impose a four-year ban.

The Russian agency, known as RUSADA, has not yet published the verdict. It previously said it would not publish findings related to the case because Valieva was only 15 when she tested positive.

RUSADA chief executive Veronika Loginova told Russian state news agency Tass that her agency may also consider appealing the court’s own verdict. RUSADA has only received a short ruling containing the ruling and is still awaiting a full ruling, he added.

Canada could hit copper

Depending on the final outcome of any appeal, the case could see Canada bumped from fourth place to bronze in the team event, while the United States could be upgraded from silver to gold.

No medal ceremony was held for the competition because of the uproar caused by Valieva’s case, and U.S. skaters said they were frustrated by the delay.

CAS usually takes a month to process a case. A panel of CAS judges previously allowed Valieva to compete in the women’s individual event at the Beijing Olympics despite suspicions of doping, partly because of her age. She finished fourth in the women’s competition as another Russian, Anna Shcherbakova, won gold.

Friday’s announcement by WADA is unlikely to have a major impact on the figure skating season. Skaters from Russia and its ally Belarus remain suspended from international competition following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Valieva has been skating in Russian domestic events this season while the case is pending.