Beijing 2022: Russian skater Valieva cleared to compete

Kamila Valieva has been cleared to continue to compete at the Winter Olympics after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) determined that no provisional suspension should be imposed. The CAS cited "exceptional circumstances" for its decision, after the 15-year-old submitted a positive sample for banned heart medication trimetazidine on Christmas Day. It included Valieva's status as a "protected person" under the World Anti-Doping Code, "serious issues" in the process of notifying Valieva of her result, and the fact a suspension could cause her "irreparable harm".

Valieva competed in the team event last week, threatening her own world record in the short program before becoming the first female skater to land quad jumps at the Olympics in her free skate on February 8. Meanwhile the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) received notice of Valieva's positive sample and almost immediately lifted the automatic provisional suspension, effectively enabling her to remain on Olympic ice. The decision was appealed by the International Testing Agency (ITA), the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the International Skating Union (ISU), and an ad-hoc CAS committee was set up in Beijing to hear the case. Valieva, who has continued training daily throughout the developments, will now take part in the short program section of the women's figure skating competition at the Capital Indoor Arena in Beijing on Tuesday.

The CAS panel said in a statement: "The panel considered fundamental principle of fairness, proportionality, irreparable harm, and the relative balance of interests as between the applicants and the athlete, who did not test positive during the Olympic Games in Beijing and is still subject to a disciplinary procedure on the