MOSCOW, January 30. /TASS/. Russians will always consider Kamila Valieva and other figure skaters Olympic champions, no matter what decisions are made by international sports organizations, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday.

"When they returned from China - from the Olympic Games - we welcomed them as Olympic champions," Peskov said. "We are convinced that they will always remain Olympic champions in our eyes, no matter what decisions, including unfair ones, are made in this regard."

The Russian presidential spokesman added that the prize money paid by the government to figure skaters who won gold medals in China would not be taken away.

On January 29, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled to disqualify Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva for four years for violating anti-doping rules starting on December 25, 2021. "All competitive results of Ms. Valieva from December 25, 2021 are disqualified, with all the resulting consequences," the CAS press service said in a statement.

The International Skating Union (ISU) decided on Tuesday to strip Russia of its gold medal at the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing in the team figure skating event by taking away some of the team’s previously earned points and subsequently awarding it the bronze medal.

The world’s governing skating body ruled on Tuesday to hold back 20 out of 74 points earned by Russian figure skaters in the team event after Valieva’s suspension, thereby putting Russia in 3rd place with 54 points, Team USA in 1st place (65 points) and Japan in second (63 points).

According to the ISU’s statement: "She [Valieva] will also be disqualified from the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games Women’s single competition and all her individual results and points in the Short Program and the Free Skating competitions will be dismissed leading to a re-ranking of the Team event results as follows - 1st the United States; 2nd Japan; 3rd Russian Olympic Committee [ROC]."

Valieva’s doping case

On February 14, 2022, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) turned down an appeal filed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the International Skating Union (ISU) against the decision of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) to lift a temporary suspension of Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva.

The International Testing Agency announced on February 11, 2022, that Valieva’s doping sample, collected on December 25, 2021 during the Russian Figure Skating Championships in St. Petersburg, returned a positive result for a banned substance, trimetazidine. This triggered the postponement of the awards ceremony for the 2022 Olympic team competition, won by Russia.

RUSADA imposed a provisional suspension on Valieva on February 8, 2022, but the Russian athlete submitted an appeal and it was granted the following day. The previous decision on the provisional suspension was voided by the RUSADA Disciplinary Committee.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC), the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the International Skating Union (ISU) filed appeals against this decision but the Court of Arbitration for Sport rejected them on February 14, 2022. The Russian skater was permitted to compete in the individual Olympic competition and finished fourth.