MOSCOW, February 1. /TASS/. International anti-doping organizations and agencies should pay closer attention to the entourages of athletes accused of doping abuse, President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Thomas Bach said on Thursday.
"I can only call on all the organizations responsible in the fight against doping and all the agencies to really look into the entourage and to make sure that also with regard to members of the entourage we have deterrent sanctions and even tougher sanctions whenever a minor is involved," Bach said speaking at a news conference at the 2024 Winter Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in South Korea.
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.
Director General of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) Veronika Loginova told TASS on Wednesday that the Russian agency did not have the authority to probe into the possible involvement of Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva’s entourage in her doping case.
According to Loginova: "We have investigated the athlete's entourage within the authority that RUSADA possesses in line with Russian law and the regulations of the World Anti-Doping Agency [WADA]… We believe that the authority of anti-doping organizations is not always sufficient to prove the involvement of an athlete's entourage in doping cases."
The International Skating Union (ISU) decided on January 30 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).
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.