Olympic doping case involving Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva begins in Switzerland

The doping case involving teenage Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva that marred the 2022 Beijing Olympics returned to the Court of Arbitration for Sport on Tuesday in Lausanne, Switzerland.

The highest court in sports began a closed-door hearing set to last at least three days. Valieva, who was 15 at the Olympics and is now 17, was expected to testify by video link from Russia in a case that was slow walked in her home country and could now deliver a verdict by the end of the year.

Awaiting the outcome are nine American skaters who could become Olympic champions in the team event after finishing second in Beijing behind Valieva and the Russians.

No medal ceremony for the team event was held in Beijing. The United States team never received its silver medals, while fourth-place Canada could get upgraded to the podium should Russia be stripped of its medal.

Valieva's defence has been that her positive test for a banned heart medication was caused by accidental contamination — maybe from a glass or plate — by tablets her grandfather claimed he took.

The first Russian anti-doping tribunal to judge the case during the Olympics in February 2022 said Valieva and her legal team "intend to conduct further investigation and present the results" at future hearings in the case.

The future hearing has now started, opening more than 19 months after an initial CAS panel let Valieva continue skating in Beijing despite a failed doping test on her record.

Valieva's lawyers did not speak to reporters when they arrived at court on Tuesday.

This appeal hearing was brought by the World Anti-Doping Agency and the International Skating Union. They challenged a Russian ruling belatedly announced in January that Valieva, as an underage minor