Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva was given a four-year ban.
Nearly two years after Kamila Valieva burst onto the scene with her history-making performance at the Beijing Olympics, an international sports tribunal has banned the Russian figure skater for doping.
Valieva became the first woman ever to land a quadruple jump at the 2022 games, helping the Russian Olympic Committee win gold in the team figure-skating event. But a drug test after the competition found that Valieva, who was just 15, had tested positive for the heart medication, trimetazidine, or TMZ. At the time, the teen told investigators that the result was due to a mix-up with her grandfather’s pills.
HISTORY on the ice. Today’s @Toyota #TalkinOlympics Most Tweeted Moment was Kamila Valieva’s historic quad in the figure skating team event. pic.twitter.com/pGaEoqAwWL
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) February 7, 2022
The Court for Arbitration of Sports (CAS) just ruled to suspend Valieva for four years, starting from when she gave the sample in Dec. 2021. That means Valieva will be able to compete again after Dec. 25, 2025 — allowing her to participate in the next Winter Games, which will take place in Italy. The governing body has also ordered Valieva to forfeit “any titles, awards, medals, profits, prizes and appearance money” earned after she tested for TMZ. Her disqualification paved the way for Team USA, who placed second behind the Russian athletes, to become the de facto gold medal winners.
“We are extremely proud of our 2022 Olympic champions — Nathan Chen, Vincent Zhou, Karen Chen, Alexa Knierim, Brandon Frazier, Madison Chock, Evan Bates, Madison Hubbell, Zachary Donohue — for their excellence on and off the ice,” U.S. Figure Skating posted on X Monday.
What is trimetazidine?
The drug is used to prevent angina attacks and vertigo by increasing blood flow efficiency — and in that way improving endurance. It belongs to a category of “hormone and metabolic modulators” prohibited by the WADA. The drug has been shown to marginally improve exercise tolerance for older patients with severe heart disease, though it’s hard to say how much of an edge it could have provided for Valieva — an elite athlete operating at the top of her sport.
The effect was likely to have been “smaller than small,” Anton Rodinov, a prominent cardiologist in Moscow, told the Associated Press. “But on the other hand, we understand that high-achieving athletes are fighting for every millisecond, for every 0.0001 percent.”
Until now, the most high-profile case involving trimetazidine was in 2014, when Chinese swimmer Sun Yang, a three-time Olympic champion, was banned for three months after testing positive for the drug.
Will Team USA be awarded the gold medal now?
The scandal upended the team figure-skating competition. While the case was being reviewed, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) decided not to award any medals for the event. Team USA placed second behind the Russian Olympic Committee, while Japan won third, and Canada came in fourth.
Some American skaters had lobbied for the org to finally give them their medals, saying that waiting for the ruling has been tough. “As the time has gone by, it almost feels like it didn’t happen,” ice dancer Madison Chock told the Associated Press. “And when we think about it, it’s hard not to get emotional and just feel kind of sad about the whole situation.”
It was announced late Monday that the U.S. would move up in the standings to take gold.
“Today is a day we have been eagerly awaiting for two years, as it is a significant win not only for Team USA athletes but also for athletes worldwide who practice fair play and advocate for clean sport,” Sarah Hirshland, head of the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee said in a statement to NPR.
