Teenage Russian ice skater Kamila Valieva has been cleared to continue to compete at the Beijing Winter Olympics despite testing positive for a banned drug.
The 15-year-old was given the green light in a ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) which said suspending her risking causing the youngster ‘irreparable harm’ – a decision that has sparked outrage today.
Valieva landed the first ever quadruple jump by a woman at the Winter Olympics, to win gold for the Russian team last week.
But the following day the medal ceremony was put on hold when results from a test on December 25 last year found she had taken the banned substance, trimetazidine, that can enhance performance.
However CAS today said it would be unfair to suspend her from the Olympics with the youngster seen as a ‘protected person’ under the World Anti-Doping Code. the panel said she should continue to perform due to the ‘exceptional circumstances’ of her case.
Valieva is now free to take part in the women’s individual figure skating competition on Tuesday, in which she is favourite for gold. World skating authorities will decide whether or not the team gold medal will be allowed to stand, in a process that could take months to complete.
The decision has been met with outrage by the United States Olympic Committee (USPOC) which described the decision as ‘another chapter in the systemic and pervasive disregard for clean sport by Russia’.
The US were set to be awarded the gold and Japan the silver if Russia had been found against.
The World Anti-Doping Agency said it was disappointed with the ruling while US former Olympic champion Tara Lipinski posted on Twitter: ‘At the end of the day, there was a positive test and there is no question in my mind that she should not be allowed to compete. Regardless of age or timing of the test/results. I believe this will leave a permanent scar on our sport.’
Valieva was seen taking a tumble on the ice this morning as she practiced her routine at…
Source : dailymail
