The Olympic spirit was declared ‘dead’ last week after Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva was cleared to compete at the Beijing winter Olympics despite a failed drugs test, with the 15-year-old’s age cited as a key factor.
Teenage sensation Valieva, the first female skater to land a quadruple jump in Games history, was allowed to start her bid for a second gold during the week’s women’s singles competition.
But it came after one of the most extraordinary and controversial days in Winter Olympic history and one which left the whole integrity of the Beijing Games in tatters, as:
* The Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) ruled that “exceptional circumstances” regarding the late return of her positive test plus a fear of causing “irreparable harm” to Valieva were sufficient reasons not to re-impose a provisional suspension.
* It was declared Valieva’s age and status as a ‘protected person’ could clear her of any doping sanctions and see her given a much-reduced ban if one was applied when her case is heard in full after the Olympics.
* The United States Olympic Committee labelled the incident “another chapter in the systemic and pervasive disregard for clean sport by Russia”.
* The Global Athlete movement stated they had lost all faith in the anti-doping system.
* The International Olympic Committee vowed no medals would be handed out in Beijing for the team and likely also the women’s individual event until after Valieva’s case had been resolved.
Valieva’s future had been thrown into doubt after she tested positive for banned heart medication trimetazidine on Christmas Day.
She had faced the prospect of becoming the youngest athlete to be banned for doping during the Olympic Games but instead Cas ruled that the delay in her sample being tested - Valieva was only informed of the result last Tuesday, 44 days after the test - plus fears for her wellbeing were grounds for her to compete.
Crucially, the Cas panel ruled that because Valieva’s age makes her a ‘protected person’ under the World Anti-Doping Code, she may be eligible for a lesser sanction - including one that does not involve a suspension - once her case is heard in full at a later date.
Cas director general Matthieu Reeb said: “The athlete should benefit from the following exceptional circumstances: She is under 16 and a protected person under the Wada code.” He added: “The panel considered that preventing the athlete from competing at the Olympic Games would cause her irreparable harm in these circumstances.”
It was a ruling, however, that was met with widespread condemnation.
Sarah Hirshland, president of the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee, whose skaters finished in silver behind Valieva’s Russian Olympic Committee outfit in the team event, hit out at Russia’s doping record while adding: “It is the collective responsibility of the entire Olympic community to protect the integrity of sport and to hold our athletes, coaches and all involved to the highest of standards. Athletes have the right to know they are competing on a level playing field. Unfortunately, today that right is being denied.”
The Canadian Olympic Committee, whose skaters would win bronze if the ROC were disqualified, said it was “extremely disappointed” with the decision: “The COC is fully committed to clean sport and we firmly believe that no one involved in doping or other corrupt practices has a place in the Olympic Movement. While we trust that the CAS decision was the result of a fair process, we are extremely disappointed with this result,” said its president, Tricia Smith.
Canadian 2018 Olympic pairs skating gold medallist Meagan Duhamel added: “How is anyone going to take the women’s event seriously now? We were just told illegal drugs and abuse are okay. If that is what this sport is about now, I want nothing to do with it. February 14 2022. The day the Olympic spirit died.”
There was also condemnation from Westminster with Julian Knight, Chair of the Select Committee for the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, hitting out at the “appalling” decision to let Valieva continue to compete under such scrutiny, telling Telegraph Sport it was “potentially one the biggest ever failings of sports governance.”
Questions had been raised as to why the Wada-accredited Stockholm test processing laboratory only notified the result 44 days after Valieva’s test by the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (Rusada), with the latter claiming an outbreak of Covid in Sweden had been to blame.
In response, Wada said that Rusada had not flagged it as a priority sample for an athlete competing in the Olympics, but the Global Athlete movement, which is headed by former Wada deputy director Rob Koehler, reacted with fury, stating “athletes had lost confidence in the global anti-doping system”.
(The Telegraph)