CAS registers four appeals on 2022 Olympics figure skating team medals’ redistribution

Sports February 26, 19:17

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

MOSCOW, February 26. /TASS/. The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has registered four appeals filed on behalf of the International Skating Union (ISU) regarding the redistribution of medals in the team figure skating event at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, the Lausanne-based court said in a statement on Monday.

"The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has registered the following appeals further to the announcement made by the International Skating Union (ISU) on 30 January 2024 by which the final standings for the Team Event in figure skating at the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 were adjusted following the disqualification of the skater Kamila Valieva, a member of the Russian team."

The court statement reads that: "Madeline Schizas, Piper Gilles, Paul Poirier, Kirsten Moore-Towers, Michael Marinaro, Eric Radford, Vanessa James and Roman Sadovsky, and, Skate Canada, and Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) v. International Skating Union (ISU), and, International Olympic Committee (IOC), and Russian Olympic Committee (ROC), and Figure Skating Federation of Russia, and, Aleksandr Galliamov, Victoria Sinitsina, Anastasia Mishina, Nikita Katsalapov, Kamila Valieva and Mark Kondratiuk."

"The Appellants in this appeal are the athletes of the ROC figure skating team at the 2022 Beijing Olympic Winter Games who seek a ruling from CAS ordering the ISU to re-rank the figure skating Team Event at the 2022 Beijing Olympic Winter Games with the ROC team in first place and with the gold medal being awarded to the ROC athletes," the statement added.

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.

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 Swiss-based court registered appeals from the Canadian national team, the Skate Canada and the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC). Canada asks to downshift the Russian figure skating team to fourth position in the results of the 2022 Olympic Games competition in figure skating and up its team to 3rd position.

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.

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