Anti-doping agencies, IOC brace for drawn-out Valieva case

BEIJING : The World Anti-Doping Agency, the International Olympic Committee and the International Skating Union on Monday were digging in for the long haul in Russian Kamila Valieva's doping case, after the 15-year-old figure skater was cleared to compete at the Beijing Games.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) cleared the gold medallist from the team event to skate in her next Olympic event on Tuesday despite the doping charge against her, which has rocked the world of figure skating.

CAS upheld an earlier decision by the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) to lift a provisional ban on Valieva, after she had tested positive on Dec. 25 for a banned substance.

No medals will be awarded in either the team event won by the Russian Olympic Committee or the individual women's event starting on Tuesday should Valieva finish in the top three, the IOC said.

That is because the Russian's doping case from the national championships in December still needs to run its course through RUSADA - responsible for sanctions on the national level - and potentially through the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and CAS again.

CAS only ruled on the provisional suspension that is automatic for any positive case and which RUSADA lifted on Feb. 9, one day after her positive test became known about - and six weeks after the sample was taken.

Once RUSADA decides officially on the sanctions then it is up to WADA whether to appeal that decision. In case of an appeal, the IOC can only consider awarding the final medals for the two events once her doping case has been finalised by CAS.

MEDAL RE-AWARDING

Any other move by the IOC prior to that could force it to take medals back and re-award them, which the Olympic body does not want to do.

"So the decision