| Court of Arbitration for Sport decision to allow Kamila Valieva to compete is a slap in the face to sport integrity |
Figure skating has a reputation for corruption and questionable scoring techniques seen in the Olympic winter games. In 2002, at the Salt Lake City Olympics, the Canadian team composed of Jamie Salé and David Pelletier were belatedly awarded a gold medal due to a judging controversy. In the 2014 Sochi Olympics, Yuna Kim was denied a gold medal due to alleged judging biases. While these instances have negative implications on judged sports involving subjectivity and politics, a positive doping test is a situation that is arguably not a morally gray area. The rules clearly state that if an athlete tests positive for a banned substance, they are prohibited from competing for that entire season. The Court of Arbitration for Sport’s (CAS) decision to allow Kamila Valieva to compete in women’s singles at the Beijing Olympics after a positive doping test is the most corrupt decision I have ever seen in figure skating. This event will taint the sport even more than any prior decision made in Olympic history.
For background context, Kamila Valieva, a fifteen-year-old figure skater from Russia and a gold medal favourite in the Beijing Olympics, won the Russian Figure Skating Nationals in December where she was tested for drugs.. Meanwhile, the Beijing Olympics opened in February where Valieva and her team won the figure skating team event. The day after, her doping sample revealed a positive result for trimetazidine — a prohibited drug used for treating angina and other heart-related conditions. Trimetazidine is a metabolic modulator that sends blood to the heart and increases oxygen intake, enabling better endurance for longer periods. The World Anti-Doping Association (WADA) informed the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) who immediately suspended Valieva from competing. Subsequently, Valieva challenged the decision of RUSADA who lifted her suspension, allowing her to continue training. The International Testing Agency (ITA) on behalf of the International Olympic Committee and the World Anti Doping Association appealed the decision to lift the suspension at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
On 14 February 2022, CAS upheld the RUSADA decision which allowed Kamila Valieva to compete in the women’s singles figure skating event. CAS revealed that the circumstances of the case imply no suspension should be imposed due to the novelty of the circumstances. Under the World Anti-Doping Agency, Valieva is a “Protected Person” (a person under the age of sixteen) meaning she cannot be held directly responsible for her actions. The decision to suspend her would prevent her from competing at the Olympics, which would cause “irreparable harm.” RUSADA Anti-Doping Rules and the WADC are silent on the issue of suspension on protected persons. The case reveals serious issues of untimely notification of the anti-doping test results, which prevented Valieva from establishing a legal defence. As such, the Panel determined that permitting the provisional suspension to remain lifted was appropriate.
The samples were not tested as soon as possible due to the extraordinary circumstances of COVID-19. The laboratory reported numerous positive Coronavirus cases resulting in an insufficient drug testing supply. Moreover, WADA reported that RUSADA did not label the sample as a priority, even though Valieva was a medal contender at the Olympics a mere two months after the Russian Nationals. By delaying a doping test and then arguing that Valieva should be allowed to compete because of that delay, Russia is further cementing its power and control in manipulating the system to its advantage.
This horrific outcome sets a new precedent for anyone (especially Russia) to use this newly established loophole to get away with doping children under the age of 16. Russia has proven time and time again that it will do anything to win Olympic medals, even going as far as to orchestrate a state-sponsored doping system at the 2014 Sochi Winter Games. Now, Russia will gladly use this decision to justify any positive doping result for underage athletes. By allowing Valieva to compete, CAS gives the green light to the Russian Figure Skating Federation to continue their abusive and corrupt training program for minors.
Allowing Kamila Valieva to skate would cause her less “irreparable harm” according to CAS. But we must ask: What about the athletes who have worked so hard to fight for an Olympic medal that was taken from them by the exploitation of loopholes? What about the skaters who were robbed of a higher standing that would have resulted in higher funding from their respective federations? Are we punishing skaters who have never taken banned substances? What message does this send to skaters who now know that doping is permitted at the Olympic level? And for Valieva, such a decision will cause even more irreparable harm. She will now be disgraced for being allowed a spot on the Olympic team instead of another Russian figure skater. At fifteen, as one of the youngest elite competitors to test positive for a banned substance, Valieva will suffer consequences larger than any other teenager in international sports history.
Although RUSADA claims that they will investigate Valieva’s entourage, Valieva and her teammates Alexandra Trusova, Anna Shcherbakova, and the three leading medal contenders for women’s figure skating, will continue to be abused in a system that views athletes as expendable. You may wonder why Russia is dominating women’s figure skating—having the only skaters who can jump quadruple jumps. It is no secret in the figure skating world that Kamila Valieva’s coach, Eteri Tutberidze, is known for her abusive training regimes which encourage dehydration, starvation, and forced training regimens for 12 hours, irrespective of injury. Despite her pupils’ successes at the international level, Tutberidze’s figure skaters regularly retire injured at the age of eighteen and are replaced by upcoming stars in Russia’s revolving-door of figure skating. Valieva is their scapegoat and unless the coaching team is punished for their actions nothing will change and Valieva will just be another cog in the machine.
The circumstances are already exceptional given that Russia is competing under the title “Russian Olympic Committee” (ROC) at the Beijing Olympics due to its state-wide doping system. The mere fact that a child was doped should have been a factor that led to harsher punishment. The IOC did not have the stomach to completely ban Russia when they discovered the state-wide doping system. By allowing them to compete as ROC, they are turning a blind eye to cheating, dishonesty, and abuse that continues to permeate figure skating and the Olympic Games. If any other country was doping their underage athletes, that athlete would be suspended immediately and would not have the afforded protections of a “protected athlete.”
So where do we go from here? I am writing this just after the women’s figure skating competition has ended and with Valieva finishing in fourth place, a medal ceremony will be held and everything seems right in the world. But is it? With Valieva not on the podium, will the investigation not probe as deeply into the situation as it would had Valieva won a medal? The decision on the team medal will not be decided until after the games when news outlets turn their attention away from the Olympics. Valieva’s medal may be stripped from her or kept depending on how low the IOC is willing to go down following this scandal. If they allow her to keep the medal, it would be the first time where the IOC allowed a doper to win.
Russia will continue doping as long as they are not truly punished. Raising the age limit for figure skating may help address these problems, but nothing will dissuade Russia so long as they are not punished. This decision has let Valieva, the skaters, the sport of figure skating, and the Olympics down.