Star teen Kamila Valieva pitched into doping legal battle between Russia and Olympic Games

Kamila Valieva’s Olympic dreams are hanging by a knife-edge as the bewildered teenager was pitched into a battle between the International Olympic Committee and Russia.

Valieva, just 15, was meant to be the face of these Games and was already being hailed as the greatest women’s skater of all time, guiding Russia to team gold and becoming the first woman to land a quadruple jump at the Olympics.

But as she practiced twice today at the Capitol Indoor Arena, her future was being decided in an unedifying legal wrangle that exposed the fissures and fault lines in the relationship between Russia and the IOC.

News that Valieva had tested positive for banned substance Trimetazidine, which is used to treat angina, sent shockwaves through the Games though the case was complicated by a lack of details and her minor status.

As she walked past reporters after the second of two practice sessions - in which she fell three times while rehearsing her Bolero free skate - Valieva wore a hoodie and shook her head when asked if she'd been ever taken drugs.

It was a sad scene that underlined the broader story here, it’s about the welfare of a child, rather than an aspiring Olympic champion and the Russian team – proven to chase medals at all costs - must take more responsibility for her wellbeing.

Today the ITA - the independent body which looks after doping cases on behalf of the IOC - realised a detailed 700-word statement clarifying the timelines - though it poses more questions than answers and raises serious doubts, again, about the probity of Russian doping controls.

Valieva recorded an adverse sample after the Russian national championships in St Petersburg on December 25 in a test managed by the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA),