The doping case of Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva, whose positive test ignited a scandal at the 2022 Winter Olympics, will be heard behind closed doors on Tuesday by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
At the Beijing games last February, Valieva, then 15, became the first female skater to land a quadruple jump in an Olympic competition, helping Russia secure gold in the team event.
However, the next day she was told she had tested positive before the competition for trimetazidine, a drug used to treat angina but which is banned for athletes.
Tuesday’s hearing follows Valieva’s exoneration by Russia’s own anti-doping agency (RUSADA), which ruled that the young athlete bore “no fault or negligence” for the positive test.
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the International Skating Union (ISU) appealed RUSADA’s ruling and are demanding up to four years’ suspension and the cancellation of all her results since the end of 2021.
“WADA has taken this appeal to CAS in the interests of fairness for athletes and clean sport,” a spokesman for the agency said in a statement, adding that RUSADA’s decision was “wrong under the terms of the World Anti-Doping Code.”
The three CAS judges will meet in Lausanne, Switzerland while Valieva as well as a number of experts and witnesses will be heard by videoconference.
