Budapest Post

Cum Deo pro Patria et Libertate
Budapest, Europe and world news

Star Russian Figure Skater Tested Positive for Banned Drug

Star Russian Figure Skater Tested Positive for Banned Drug

Kamila Valieva propelled Russia to a win in the team figure skating competition this week, but it was not yet clear if the gold medal would be awarded.
The 15-year-old star of Russia’s figure skating team who powered it to a win in the team figure skating competition tested positive for a banned substance weeks before the Beijing Olympics, throwing into question her team’s gold medal and her continued participation in the Games.

The skater, Kamila Valieva, already considered one of the top athletes in the sport, was found to have trimetazidine, a banned heart medication, in her system, according to a statement Friday from the International Testing Agency. The drug, which is not approved for use in the United States, is believed to improve endurance by helping the heart work more efficiently. Several top athletes, including the Chinese swimmer Sun Yang and the Russian bobsledder Nadezhda Sergeeva, have served doping bans in recent years after testing positive for the drug.

The revelation has upended the Olympic skating competition and generated a slew of questions, including whether Valieva, who was favored to win the individual event next week, will be allowed to compete and whether Russia will be awarded its team gold medal. The United States, led by the men’s gold medalist Nathan Chen, finished second in that event.

The news of the positive test also highlighted the presence of Russian athletes at the Games even though their country is serving a multiyear ban from global sports for a previous doping scandal. Russian athletes are allowed to participate in the Olympics and other international events under special permission, and only if their sports’ federations affirm they are free of banned substances. The requirement was put in place after revelations that Russia conducted a state-orchestrated cheating scheme at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.

Russia won the team event Monday behind a stunning performance by Valieva, who landed two quadruple jumps, becoming the first woman to do so in the Olympics.

Now, as the International Olympic Committee and figure skating’s governing body, the International Skating Union, begin a protracted review, it was not clear what punishment Valieva or Russia might receive, if any.

Also uncertain is when the medals would finally hang around the necks of the winners.

The medals ceremony was hastily canceled on Tuesday. Just as the United States skaters prepared to head to a plaza for the ceremony, dressed in their “Team U.S.A.” uniforms, they were told — without explanation — to turn back.

“I was definitely disappointed,” Karen Chen, one of the skaters, told reporters after a practice Friday. “It’s out of my control. I trust that this decision would be made fairly by those in charge, and again, I’m here to focus on skating.”

After several days of confusion, the International Testing Agency, which oversees testing for the Games, disclosed Valieva’s positive test on Friday.

Mark Adams, a spokesman for the I.O.C., said at a news conference on Friday in Beijing that he could not provide a timeline for when the matter would be resolved.

“We have to wait for the process to run its course,” he said. “We hope the whole issue can be expedited in the interest of every athlete.”

How Valieva was placed on the list of Russian athletes cleared for the Games remains uncertain, and will be a key part of the inquiry.

At least one of her drug-testing samples leading to the Games had yet to be tested after she submitted it on Dec. 25, when she was competing in the Russian figure skating championship. A lab in Stockholm where the sample was sent for testing did not report the positive result until Tuesday, according to the testing agency, setting off chaos in the sport at its biggest event.

The Russian Olympic Committee issued a statement defending Valieva and her participation in the Games. The committee said that she had passed doping tests before and after Dec. 25 and at the Games, and that the positive test in question should not apply to her status in Beijing.

“This was a complete catastrophic failure to athletes and public confidence,” Travis T. Tygart, the chief executive of the United States Anti-Doping Agency, said Friday in a telephone interview. “It’s unacceptable that the system failed athletes, including the Russian athlete, this way.”

The Russian antidoping agency briefly suspended Valieva, the International Testing Agency said, after the lab in Stockholm reported the failed test on Tuesday, one day after the team event, but quickly lifted that penalty. The World Anti-Doping Agency said Friday it was appealing that decision, and the Court of Arbitration for Sport is expected to expedite a hearing on the matter.

Tygart called it “total gross incompetence” that it took more than a month for Valieva’s test result to be reported by the lab, and he said that the Russian antidoping agency and the World Anti-Doping Agency, which operates the lab in Stockholm, should have expedited the result with the Olympics approaching. It was especially important because Russian women recently have been so dominant in figure skating, he said.

“It’s heartbreaking, because this didn’t need to happen and shouldn’t have happened,” Tygart said.

If Valieva had been taking trimetazidine with a doctor’s recommendation, she would have had to file the paperwork for that before her drug testing and her eligibility might not be in contention right now, Tygart said. If she had been using it for performance-enhancing purposes — perhaps for endurance or recovery — it could have possibly helped her land jump after jump in the physically challenging and highly difficult routines that she performs with ease.

In figure skating, increased endurance would benefit athletes by making it easier to perform multiple jumps, especially in the second half of their routines. As many as three jumps performed in the second half are given a 10 percent bonus in skating’s scoring system.

Antidoping authorities are expected to look into how the drug got into Valieva’s system in the first place, particularly because she is a minor. Coaches or others in her entourage found giving her a banned drug could face penalties under antidoping rules, and under Russian law.

A Kremlin spokesman, Dmitri S. Peskov, said Russia’s government had taken note of the brewing skating crisis.

“We believe there was some kind of misunderstanding,” Peskov told reporters during a regular briefing on Friday. “Our sports officials have questions about the timeline of Valieva’s tests.”

A disqualification for Valieva, or Russia’s team, could hand the team gold to the United States, which posted its best finish after winning bronze in the event at the past two Olympics. In that situation, Japan’s team would move up to silver, and the Canadian team, which initially finished fourth, would get the bronze.

The team event consists of performances by a country’s top men’s and women’s singles skaters, a pairs team and a set of ice dancers. Disqualification of any athlete from a medal-winning team — a regular occurrence in other Olympic sports — means the loss of that athlete’s points.
AI Disclaimer: An advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system generated the content of this page on its own. This innovative technology conducts extensive research from a variety of reliable sources, performs rigorous fact-checking and verification, cleans up and balances biased or manipulated content, and presents a minimal factual summary that is just enough yet essential for you to function as an informed and educated citizen. Please keep in mind, however, that this system is an evolving technology, and as a result, the article may contain accidental inaccuracies or errors. We urge you to help us improve our site by reporting any inaccuracies you find using the "Contact Us" link at the bottom of this page. Your helpful feedback helps us improve our system and deliver more precise content. When you find an article of interest here, please look for the full and extensive coverage of this topic in traditional news sources, as they are written by professional journalists that we try to support, not replace. We appreciate your understanding and assistance.
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Trump Says Ukraine Can Fully Restore Borders with NATO Backing
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Germany Weighs Excluding France from Key European Fighter Jet Programme
Cyberattack Disrupts Check-in and Boarding Systems at Major European Airports
Björn Borg Breaks Silence: Memoir Reveals Addiction, Shame and Cancer Battle
When Extremism Hijacks Idealism: How the Baader-Meinhof Gang Emerged and Fell
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
Trump Orders $100,000 Fee on H-1B Visas and Launches ‘Gold Card’ Immigration Pathway
France’s Looming Budget Crisis and Political Fracture Raise Fears of Becoming Europe’s “Sick Man”
Three Russian MiG-31 Jets Breach Estonian Airspace in ‘Unprecedentedly Brazen’ NATO Incident
European manufacturers against ban on polluting cars: "The industry may collapse"
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
Christian Brueckner Released from German Prison after Serving Unrelated Sentence
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
The conservative right spreads westward: a huge achievement for 'Alternative for Germany' in local elections
Pope Leo Warns of Societal Crisis Over Mega-CEO Pay, Citing Tesla’s Proposed Trillion-Dollar Package
Poland Green-Lights NATO Deployment in Response to Major Russian Drone Incursion
U.S. and China Agree on Framework to Shift TikTok to American Ownership
Le Pen Tightens the Pressure on Macron as France Edges Toward Political Breakdown
Czech Republic signs €1.34 billion contract for Leopard 2A8 main battle tanks with delivery from 2028
Penske Media Sues Google Over “AI Overviews,” Claiming It Uses Journalism Without Consent and Destroys Traffic
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
One in Three Europeans Now Uses TikTok, According to the Chinese Tech Giant
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
NATO Deploys ‘Eastern Sentry’ After Russian Drones Violate Polish Airspace
The New Life of Novak Djokovic
German police raid AfD lawmaker’s offices in inquiry over Chinese payments
Volkswagen launches aggressive strategy to fend off Chinese challenge in Europe’s EV market
France Erupts in Mass ‘Block Everything’ Protests on New PM’s First Day
Poland Shoots Down Russian Drones in Airspace Violation During Ukraine Attack
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Macron Appoints Sébastien Lecornu as Prime Minister Amid Budget Crisis and Political Turmoil
Vatican hosts first Catholic LGBTQ pilgrimage
Apple Unveils iPhone 17 Series, iPhone Air, Apple Watch 11 and More at 'Awe Dropping' Event
France joins Eurozone’s ‘periphery’ as turmoil deepens, say investors
France Faces New Political Crisis, again, as Prime Minister Bayrou Pushed Out
Nayib Bukele Points Out Belgian Hypocrisy as Brussels Considers Sending Army into the Streets
France, at an Impasse, Heads Toward Another Government Collapse
×