Valieva tested positive for trimetazidine, a banned heart medication that can boost blood flow and efficiency.
Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva was cleared Monday to compete in the women’s individual event at the Beijing Winter Olympics, but as an investigation into doping allegations against the 15-year-old continues, many are wondering if she could eventually be stripped of any medals won during the 2022 games. Valieva has already won a gold medal at the Winter Olympics, as she was part of the Russian Olympic Committee’s (ROC) team that bested the United States in the group event. The delay of the medal ceremony for the teams, which was initially described as a “legal matter” by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), eventually led to the revelation that the teenager tested positive for a banned substance before the games began. Though cases of doping pop up during the Olympics, Valieva’s age qualifies her as a “protected person” in the rulebook. That designation means the rules regarding what can and cannot be done about doping are different compared to someone age 16 and up. According to Monday’s announcement, the IOC will not hold a medal ceremony for the women’s individual event if Valieva is among the top three finishers. Likewise, the team medal ceremony has been indefinitely postponed until the completion of the investigation into the allegation the skater used trimetazidine, a banned heart medication that can boost blood flow and efficiency. The sample was taken on December 25,2021, but the results didn’t come back until the Olympics were already underway. According to two experts on sports and law, the decision to forgo the traditional medal ceremony may be the International Olympic Committee’s attempt to leave the door open for potentially stripping those medals in the future.
