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The United States Anti-Doping Agency (Usada) on Monday accused Russia of holding the Olympics hostage after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) decision to allow Russian skater Kamila Valieva to continue competing despite testing positive in late December in a banned substance.
Whatever the outcome of the case, “for the sixth consecutive edition of the Olympic Games, Russia has taken the competition hostage and stolen the moment from the clean athletes and the public,” said Usada director Travis Tygart. .
According to him, “only time will tell” whether Valieva should have been allowed to compete in Beijing after testing positive for trimetazidine. This substance, used to relieve angina pectoris, has been banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency since 2014 because it promotes blood circulation.
If Valieva was subsequently disqualified, the CAS decision “will have once again allowed the Russians to smear the Olympics,” Tygart added.
Kamila Valieva, 15, tested positive during a test carried out on December 25 during the Russian Championships. But it took six weeks between the sample and the notification of the positive control.
“If Russia had properly processed this sample, taken several weeks before the Olympics, we would know for sure if the women’s individual skating event which begins (Tuesday) will be a real competition and if (Valieva) should have participated in the figure skating team event,” said Tygart.
“Preventing the athlete from competing in the Olympics would cause her irreparable harm,” observed the three CAS arbitrators on Monday to justify their decision to let her compete.
The Russian prodigy can therefore continue to defend her chances of individual Olympic gold, even if nothing prevents her from being sanctioned within several months and seeing her Olympic results canceled later.
