Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva handed four-year ban for doping at Beijing Olympics

Valieva tested positive for a banned heart medication during the 2022 Winter Games, and later said she must have suffered accidental contamination by tablets her grandfather claimed he took

Kamila Valieva during the free skating event at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics (Getty)

Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva has received a four-year doping suspension, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) said on Monday, effectively stripping the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) of its gold medal in the team event from the 2022 Beijing Olympics.

“Kamila Valieva is found to have committed an anti-doping rule violation and sanctioned with a four-year period of ineligibility commencing on 25 December 2021,” the Lausanne-based court said in a statement.

The court added that all competitive results achieved since that date are voided, including the gold medal she helped ROC win in the team event at the 2022 Games.

Valieva’s positive test for a banned heart medication was revealed only after she helped the Russians win Olympic team gold in Beijing – and more than six weeks after the sample was taken at the national championship she won in St Petersburg. The testing laboratory in Stockholm, Sweden, cited staffing issues during the Covid-19 pandemic for the delayed result.

No medals in the team event were ever awarded in Beijing, where the United States took silver, Japan the bronze and Canada placed fourth. They are in line to be upgraded now Valieva is disqualified.

Valieva’s defence was that her positive test was caused by accidental contamination – maybe from a glass or plate – by tablets her grandfather claimed he took.

She placed fourth in the women’s event with a mistake-filled free programme under intense scrutiny and pressure. A previous CAS panel meeting in Beijing had allowed her to continue competing despite the positive test.

A panel of CAS judges heard three days of testimony in September and two more in November. Valieva testified by video link from Russia.

The World Anti-Doping Agency requested a ban through to December 2025.

Valieva has not skated internationally since Beijing because of an International Skating Union ban on Russians competing, following the country’s invasion of Ukraine.

Agencies