Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva (previously) was retroactively disqualified for doping at the 2022 Beijing Olympics, and as a result the gold medals go instead to U.S. competitors who had originally placed second. Valieva is also suspended from international competition until December 2025, the Court for Arbitration of Sport ruled.
"Trimetazidine was found to be present in the sample collected from Ms Valieva on 25 December 2021 during the Russian National Championships in St Petersburg," CAS said in its statement.
The move clears the way for the last medals from the Winter Games to finally be awarded, but leaves a black eye on one of the event's most popular competitions."Russia has hijacked every Olympic games since 2014," said Travis Tygart, head of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, a critic of Russia's well-documented sports doping system.
It's not her fault, she was a child and had no choice. To blame is her coach, a flagrant monster famed for that sort of thing, the Russian sports establishment, which sanctions the use of drugs by athletes, and Olympic authorities that let them compete anyway.
The World Anti-Doping Agency also issued a strongly-worded statement calling for full accountability for sports officials, doctors and coaches in Russia.
"The doping of children is unforgivable," the organization said in a statement. "WADA encourages governments to consider passing legislation – as some have done already – making the doping of minors a criminal offence."
