Kamila Valieva doping scandal sparks debate on Olympic athlete age limit

International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach has revealed that an age limit could be imposed for athletes following the Kamila Valieva doping scandal.

Bach told reporters at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics that the IOC Executive Board was discussing the possibility of introducing an athlete age cap.

The conversation has been sparked by the doping scandal involving 15-year-old figure skater Valieva.

There is currently no official age limit to compete at the Olympic Games. In fact, the average age of female skateboarders at Tokyo 2020 was just over 14-years-old.

“There are issues to be addressed,” Bach said. “This concerns the issues of minors in senior competition.

“We have already started in the IOC Executive Board to think about, but this needs careful deliberation and consultation on two fronts.

“One is with regards to the World Anti-Doping Agency, to see whether there is the need to adapt the rules. The other stakeholders are the International Federations over whether the establishment of minimum age of participation is an appropriate measure.

“This is for the International Federations, but we will initiate such consideration and give them food for thought.”

"I'm slightly speechless…for all the wrong reasons."Kamila Valieva was the favourite in the women's figure skating but she took several tumbles on the ice and failed to make to podium. Live: https://t.co/GSwbZc66X3#BBCOlympics #Beijing2022 pic.twitter.com/ZZDEZHGhaQ

Valieva was confirmed to have tested positive for banned substance trimetazidine at the Russian Figure Skating Championships in Saint Petersburg in December.

The sample was only analysed by a World Anti-Doping Agency-accredited laboratory on February 8th, however, after the athlete had