Olympics: Urgent hearing to decide fate of Russian figure skater after failing drug test

Fifteen-year-old Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva faces being thrown out of the Winter Olympics after the International Testing Agency confirmed she tested positive for a banned heart medication in December.

Valieva’s positive test was confirmed on Tuesday, one day after she starred in the Russian Olympic Committee’s victory in the team event in Beijing. Her team successfully challenged a provisional suspension, and she was practising again on Friday when the ITA ended days of speculation.

The ITA and the International Olympic Committee are now challenging the lifting of the provisional suspension, with a view to determining Valieva’s continued participation in the Games. She is the overwhelming favourite to win the women’s individual competition, which starts on Tuesday.

#Beijing2022: The International Testing Agency (ITA) informs about the case of figure skater Kamila Valieva.▶️ https://t.co/uOWDF2uyjB pic.twitter.com/K3aVF7W3mJ

— International Testing Agency (@IntTestAgency) February 11, 2022

Valieva’s situation is complicated by a World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) ruling which considers those under 16 ‘protected persons’, meaning the usual rule of strict liability does not necessarily apply, and generally implying the athlete concerned must remain anonymous.

However, the ITA effectively claimed it had been forced to issue its clarification due to the failure of the media to adhere to that same principle, following days of speculation that originally emanated from the delay in the awarding of medals for the team event.

Citing what it said it accepted was “the necessity for official information due to heightened public interest,” the ITA confirmed that Valieva submitted a positive sample for trimetazidine during the