IOC: Medal award for figure skating teams remains open for the time being
In the doping scandal surrounding figure skater Kamila Valiyeva, no quick decision on the awarding of medals in the Olympic team competition is to be expected. “The case in its entirety will be heard at a later date,” said Mark Adams, spokesman for the International Olympic Committee, on Sunday in Beijing. Adams confirmed that the ad hoc commission of the International Court of Arbitration for Sports will only decide whether the 15-year-old Russian will have the right to start in the upcoming women’s singles.
The Russian figure skaters had won gold in the team competition ahead of the USA and Japan. Shortly thereafter, Valiyeva’s positive test for the banned heart drug trimetazidine, which came from the Russian championships in December, became known. The Cas judges are now to decide whether the Russian anti-doping agency was allowed to lift the provisional ban imposed on the European champion on February 8 one day later. “We want to expedite this as much as possible,” Adams reaffirmed.
The parties to the dispute are expected to hear the Cas verdict on Monday. The women’s singles starts on Tuesday. Adams revealed that further possible consequences for Valiyeva and those around her would only be decided later. “The wheels of justice grind rather slowly. We have to follow procedure,” Adams said.
IOC Olympic Director Christophe Dubi was particularly relaxed with regard to the consequences of the case for the Winter Games. “The games are the games. So it’s clear that when there are so many athletes and so many competitions, a variety of problems arise,” he said.