According to AP, the nineteen-year-old Russian must also pay 7,500 euros in legal costs and also pay 8,600 euros to both the World Anti-Doping Agency WADA and the International Skating Union ISU.
Valieva, then fifteen years old, tested positive for the banned substance trimetazidine on December 25, 2021, in the run-up to the Winter Games in Beijing. For this purpose, the TAS imposed a four-year suspension on her at the beginning of last year, one that took effect retroactively on December 25, 2021. All of the Russian’s results since that date were deleted.
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The news only broke after the Games were underway in February. Valieva had already won gold with the Russian team at that time. Given her young age, the Russian was allowed by the TAS to continue to participate in the Olympic tournament under a “protected status”. But the pressure became too much for her and during the free freestyle of the individual competition she piled up mistakes as the top favorite. Valieva surprisingly finished off the podium. Loena Hendrickx finished eighth in Beijing and moved up to seventh place due to the elimination of Valieva. Valieva had to surrender her medal won in the team competition and Russia dropped from first to third place due to the deletion of her result.
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In January 2023, the controversial Russian anti-doping agency RUSADA ruled that a sanction for the athlete was not necessary. RUSADA acknowledged that there had been a breach of anti-doping regulations, but found that there was no breach or negligence on Valieva’s part when she tested positive ahead of the Winter Games. WADA appealed against this to the TAS and was joined by the international skating association ISU and, surprisingly enough, by RUSADA itself, which did not agree with the ruling of its own disciplinary committee.
No Winter Games
Her retroactive suspension ends at the end of this year. However, Valieva will not participate in the Winter Games in northern Italy early next year. The last qualifying opportunity for athletes from Russia to participate under a neutral flag was in September in Beijing.