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A dark history: what we know regarding the doping suspicion of a 15-year-old Russian athlete at the Olympics
Announced star of the Beijing Olympics, the young Russian skater Kamila Valieva finds herself at the heart of a resounding doping case following being tested positive for trimetazidine, then cleared by her own anti-doping agency.
What do we know regarding this affair, what is the product in question, and what can be the consequences for the young sportswoman and for the Russian team?
What happened ?
The Valieva affair started in the fog on Wednesday, when the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced the postponement for “legal” reasons of the medal ceremony for the figure skating team event, scheduled the day before, without more details.
The Russian press mentioned a positive doping control of the young skater, but it was necessary to wait for a press release on Friday from the ITA, the body responsible for the anti-doping program of the Games, for a precise chronology.
The 15-year-old prodigy was therefore tested on December 25 during the Russian championships in Saint Petersburg, by the Russian anti-doping agency (Rusada), which only received the positive result of this test on Tuesday.
Rusada immediately temporarily suspended the skater, titled the day before with the Russian team in Beijing. But on Wednesday, Valieva appealed and obtained the lifting of her suspension, for reasons still mysterious, which allows her to continue to participate in the Games.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Skating Federation (ISU) have announced an immediate appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to obtain a decision before February 15, the day of the women’s short program.
Who is Valeva?
For her first winter in seniors, the Russian teenager is undefeated until now: she won her two Grand Prix, the Russian Championships, was crowned European champion in mid-January, shared the gold of the competition by team and took the opportunity to sign the very first women’s quadruple jumps in Olympic history.
Legally, Valieva is a “protected person”, a category introduced in early 2021 by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) which includes athletes under the age of 16, with three consequences: a disciplinary sanction once morest her may remain confidential, will be less severe than for adults, and its management should be investigated.
What product is mentioned?
Valieva tested positive for trimetazidine, used to relieve angina pectoris and banned by the WADA since 2014.
Unrelated to the cocktail of steroids used by the Russians during the incredible scandal of the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi, or with the EPO involved in endurance disciplines, trimetazidine is rarely detected in a sports setting.
Moreover, the reality of its doping effect is questioned by some scientists, and was unsuccessfully challenged last year before the sports courts by the French wrestler Zelimkhan Khadjiev.
“The many parkinsonian-type side effects do not seem to favor use in athletes“, underlined in 2020 the pharmacist and toxicologist Pascal Kintz in the review “Analytical and Clinical Toxicology“, referring to the risks of “gait disorders“, “fall” and “hallucinations“.
What is she risking?
Due to her young age, Valieva is eligible for a less severe sanction, ranging from a “reprimand” at “two year suspension“, once morest four usually, provides the AMA.
If the CAS disavows Rusada, the skater will once more be suspended, thus deprived of the continuation of the Games, and the results obtained since her control will be retroactively canceled, summarizes David Pavot, director of the world chair of research on anti-doping at the Canadian University of Sherbrooke.
But there remains a thornier question still to be settled: determining the consequences for his team, which won Monday ahead of the United States and Japan, Canada taking fourth place.
“In this situation not provided for by the texts, I do not see how the team might be deprived of its gold medal“, estimates Pierre-Olivier Rocchi, lawyer in Paris and specialist in anti-doping.
Unlike the athletics regulations, which sanction an entire relay if a runner has previously tested positive, the ISU regulations only provide for collective disqualification in the event of a control during the competition.
What consequences for Russia?
Russia was suspended from all international competition at the end of 2020 by the Court of Arbitration for Sport for two years, but its athletes can compete under a neutral flag if they have not been personally sanctioned for doping.
If the Valieva affair turns out to be only an individual breach of the anti-doping rules, it will have no additional consequences for Russian sport, except to tarnish its image once more: the decision taken in 2020 was directly aimed at the Russian anti-doping agency (Rusada), for having first orchestrated and concealed institutionalized doping, then for having manipulated computer data requested by WADA.
The Kremlin said on Friday “fully support” young Russian skater Kamila Valieva, at the center of a resounding doping case at the Beijing Winter Olympics following testing positive for a banned substance.
“We fully, infinitely support our Kamila Valieva and we call on everyone to support her!“, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. “We say to Kamila: ‘Don’t hide your face! You are Russian (…), take part in competitions and win!’“, he added.
