Olympics: Russian skater Kamila Valieva takes the ice after being cleared to compete

Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva will be allowed to compete in the women's singles in figure skating at the Beijing Winter Olympics after a decision by sport's top court on Monday.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) said it had upheld the Russian Anti-Doping Agency's decision to lift a ban on the 15-year-old, who tested positive for a banned substance on December 25th, in a statement released on its website on Monday.

The teen skating prodigy took to the ice half an hour after the decision, practising with her Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) teammates ahead of the singles on Tuesday.

"Let's go Kamila!" Russian ice dancer Nikita Katsalapov said at the Capital Indoor Stadium after winning a silver medal and learning about the decision.

CAS cited the fact that Valieva was a "protected person" under World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) rules as one of the exceptional circumstances underpinning its decision.

Preventing Valieva from competing at the Olympics would have caused the 15-year-old irreparable harm, CAS said in its ruling.

The figure skater is one of the youngest athletes to face a doping charge during the Olympics, prompting global outrage at the role of the adults around the teenage skater and the continuing scourge of Russian doping in international sports.

"This appears to be another chapter in the systematic and pervasive disregard for clean sport by Russia," United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC) CEO Sarah Hirshland said in a statement released after the decision.

The result of Valieva's positive drug test was not revealed until February 8th after she had competed in the team event at the Winter Games, dazzling the world with the first quad jumps ever completed in the women's Olympic