Thu. Nov 14th, 2024
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Kamila Valieva
Kamila Valieva dropped from first place to fourth and out of the medals in the women’s singles at the Beijing Games

The World Anti-Doping Agency has referred the case of teenage figure skater Kamila Valieva to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Wada said the decision was “wrong under the terms of the World Anti-Doping Code”.

It is seeking a four-year ban for the 16-year-old.

The International Skating Union (ISU) has also lodged an appeal with Cas.

It said in a statement: “The ISU is of the opinion that all young athletes must be protected against doping. Such protection cannot happen by exempting young athletes from sanctions.”

Valieva, then 15, failed a drugs test in December 2021 when she tested positive for banned heart medication trimetazidine.

Details of the result only surfaced after she had won gold in the team event at the Beijing Games in February 2022, during which she became the first woman to land a quadruple jump at a Winter Olympics.

She was allowed to compete in the women’s singles event after a court lifted her provisional ban.

However, a number of falls and stumbles meant she dropped from first to fourth place and she left the arena in tears.

Last month Wada released the findings of Rusada’s doping investigation into Valieva and said it was “concerned” by the decision to clear her.

Wada said:external-link “Wada is seeking a four-year period of ineligibility and disqualification of all the athlete’s results from the date of the sample collection on 25 December 2021.

“As it has sought to do throughout this process, Wada will continue to push for this matter to proceed without further undue delay.”

The ISU said it is seeking “a period of ineligibility at Cas’ discretion” from 25 December 2021 and “disqualification of all results achieved during this period including forfeiture of any medals, points and prizes”.

It also wants Cas to determine the consequences of Valieva’s anti-doping rule violation, as well as the final results of the figure skating team event at Beijing 2022.

During the Games the International Olympic Committee (IOC) decided no medals would be handed out until Valieva’s case was resolved.

The Russians scored highest, with the United States second, Japan third and Canada fourth.

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