Kamila Valieva disqualified from 2022 Olympics in doping case, Russia to lose team gold to U.S.
Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva was disqualified from the 2022 Olympics on Monday, almost two years after the teenager's doping case caused turmoil at the Beijing Games.
The verdict from the Court of Arbitration for Sport means the Russians are set to be stripped of the gold medal in figure skating's team event. The United States finished second and is set to be named Olympic champion instead.
The International Olympic Committee decided not to present any medals for the event in Beijing, where the then-15-year-old Valieva was the star performer hours before her positive test for a banned heart medicine was revealed.
CAS said it upheld appeals led by the World Anti-Doping Agency, which asked the court to disqualify Valieva from the Olympics and ban her. A Russian sports tribunal had cleared her of any blame.
The CAS judges banned her for four years, through December 2025 — about seven weeks before the next Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy.
Here’s the decision: A four-year ban for Valieva from Dec 2021 to Dec 2025. Her Olympic results are disqualified, CAS says. A huge win for clean sport and massive loss for the Russian doping system. <a href="https://t.co/7ArFoisqNv">pic.twitter.com/7ArFoisqNv</a>
The U.S. team took silver in Beijing and should be upgraded to gold. Japan took bronze and Canada placed fourth.
Should the Canadians be elevated to third, it would mean a bronze medal for Roman Sadovsky, Madeline Schizas, Kristen Moore-Towers, Michael Marinaro, Vanessa James, Eric Radford, Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier.
The IOC is responsible for reallocating medals and its executive board is next scheduled to meet in March.
Valieva's legal team said it is reviewing the CAS decision before deciding