By Matteo Morelli | Photos by Melanie Heaney
In this text, we recap how the occasions unfolded and what was the impression of the CAS resolution on the outcomes from the occasions that Valieva competed in, with a give attention to the ice dance Team occasion on the Olympic Games.
The unfolding of occasions
Russian athlete Kamila Valieva is a skater that entered the senior area within the 2021/22 season, profitable each of her Grand Prix assignments (the Grand Prix Final that season was cancelled). She is an athlete of Sambo 70, the workforce led by coach Eteri Turberidze alongside Sergej Dudakov and Daniil Gleikhengauz.
On December 25, 2021, Valieva competed on the Russian nationals, profitable the title. During this occasion, an anti-doping pattern was collected and despatched to a World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) accredited laboratory in Sweden.
On January 15, the next 12 months, Valieva gained the European continental title in Tallinn, Estonia. Because of her distinctive aggressive leads to the season, she was appointed to signify the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) on the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, China.
The Team occasion happened on February 6 and seven. Alongside her teammates, Valieva competed towards the certified international locations to win each segments of the Women’s Team occasion competitions and contributing to workforce ROC ending in first place.
The medal ceremony was as a consequence of happen on February 8, nonetheless it ended up being postponed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for preliminary stories on an pressing scenario that required authorized recommendation from the International Skating Union (ISU). The day after, it turned public information that Kamila Valieva was notified of a constructive consequence to trimetazidine from the doping pattern taken the earlier December at Nationals. The Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) initially indicated a provisional suspension of the athlete, to then elevate the choice the day after and permitting her to compete within the particular person occasion.
On February 11, the ISU, WADA and IOC filed an attraction to CAS to reinstate the provisional suspension. At a listening to on February 13, Valieva acknowledged that the substance was the results of a case of contamination along with her grandfather’s medicines; the next day, CAS decided that the elevate on the suspension remained legitimate as a consequence of distinctive circumstances: the athlete was, in actual fact, deemed to be a Protected Person as a consequence of her age (15 on the time).
The Women’s brief programme happened on February 15, with Valieva ending in first place. On February 17, Valieva ended fifth within the free programme, ending out of the rostrum with teammate Anna Shcherbakova incomes the Olympic title.
Team USA requested CAS to current the athletes with the Team occasion medal, however their utility was dismissed.
The investigations and CAS sentence
RUSADA’s investigation have been accomplished in September 2022. On January 13, 2023 RUSADA’s disciplinary tribunal discovered that Valieva had no fault for her constructive doping take a look at, with a sanction to disqualify her nationwide title on the day of the take a look at.
On February 2023 and a 12 months from the Olympic Games, additional appeals have been filed by RUSADA, ISU and WADA.
The CAS listening to began on the finish of September of the identical 12 months, solely to be accomplished in November.
On January 29, 2024, Kamila Valieva was discovered to have dedicated an anti-doping rule violation from her constructive take a look at forward of the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. The resolution from CAS was to ban the athlete from December 25, 2021 (the day the pattern was collected at Russian nationals) for a interval of 4 years, alongside the disqualification of all aggressive outcomes and ensuing penalties (together with forfeiture of any titles, awards, medals, earnings, prizes, and look cash).
Their rationale appealed to the truth that the Russian Anti-Doping Regulation states that the athlete is accountable for demonstrating why they didn’t commit a violation deliberately and as such there isn’t any foundation underneath the principles to deal with them any in a different way from an grownup athlete, thus diverging from the Protected Person standing initially utilized to the case.
The ISU response
CAS’ jurisdiction restricted to deciding on the case, nonetheless any utility of the results linked to the retroactive disqualification of Valieva from previous occasions weren’t inside their scope and needed to be addressed by the related establishments.
On January 30, the ISU dominated that Valieva could be disqualified from all competitions which happened through the interval of ineligibility, together with the European Figure Skating Championships 2022 and the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games Women’s single competitors and Team occasion. This was utilized by disqualifying her outcomes from the Team occasion and eradicating the factors that contributed to the workforce’s totals, with a subsequent re-ranking of the Team occasion outcomes.
With the re-distribution of factors on the Team occasion, the medal positions modified to replicate the brand new totals as per the ISU resolution.
The ROC workforce initially led to gold medal place with a complete of 74 factors, nonetheless the disqualification of Valieva meant that the workforce misplaced the 20 factors she earned from profitable each Women’s segments, ending in bronze medal place with a brand new whole of 54 factors. The ROC’s ice dance couple for each segments was Victoria Sinitsina & Nikita Katsalapov, which additionally gained a silver medal within the ice dance occasion behind reigning Olympic champions Gabriella Papadakis & Guillaume Cizeron of France.
Team USA, which has been taking part in a robust function all through this whole scenario by continually talking up and asking for a decision, was initially in silver medal place with 65 factors, nonetheless the ISU resolution decided that the whole American delegation could be awarded the gold medal. This impacts the 2 American ice dance {couples} that competed on the occasion: Madison Hubbell & Zachary Donohue, who skated the RD on the Team occasion and in addition gained bronze on the particular person ice dance occasion, and Madison Chock & Evan Bates, who skated the free dance on the Team occasion.
Team Japan, initially in third place with 63 factors, moved as much as the silver medal place. Their ice dance workforce competing in each segments was Misato Komatsubara & Tim Koleto.
The controversy and present scenario
Even if Valieva’s outcomes have been disqualified and factors deducted from the overall scores on the Team occasion, an argument was raised in relation to all different Women’s outcomes on the occasion shifting up by a spot however not being given the related factors regarding the brand new rankings. Although the gold and silver medal place wouldn’t be affected, these modifications are significantly pertinent for workforce Canada, which ended the Team occasion in fourth place with 53 whole factors.
If the Women’s level are amended as per the brand new rankings, Madeline Schizas factors would decide a distinct state of affairs: she initially led to third place in each segments nonetheless, with Valieva disqualified, Schizas moved to second place and if her whole factors modified to a complete of 18 (9 per section) somewhat than 16 (8 per section) as they at present stand, then the overall factors for workforce Canada could be 55, due to this fact permitting them to finish in third place claiming bronze and ROC in fourth place with 54 factors and no medals.
The Canadian Federation is eager to seek out a solution to this query and perceive why a change in rankings was not mirrored in a change in factors. On February 16, Skate Canada and the Canadian athletes from the Team occasion determined to formally attraction the ISU resolution in respect of the bronze determine skating medal on the Team occasion.
This is anticipated to impression the allocation of at the very least the bronze medals nonetheless, on the level of writing this text, there are nonetheless no information in relation to when the gold and silver groups ought to obtain their medals, or any information regarding a a lot deserved and too late medal ceremony, which all profitable groups needs to be entitled to obtain.