(Reuters) – The World Anti-Doping Agency will take the Russian Anti-Doping Agency to the Court of Arbitration for Sport if it does not “promptly” resolve a delay in its doping investigation of figure skater Kamila Valieva, president Witold Banka said on Thursday.
RUSADA said last week that it will not release the results of the investigation into the positive test of the 16-year-old “in order to protect the interests of the figure skater”.
Valieva tested positive for the banned substance trimetazidine at the Russian national championships in December 2021 but the result was only made known on Feb. 8, a day after she helped her team win a gold medal at the Beijing Olympics.
Valieva, then 15, was allowed to compete in the women’s event and finished fourth despite being labelled as the favourite for gold.
“WADA is concerned with the ongoing delay in Kamila Valieva’s case and has now put RUSADA under formal notice that unless the matter is resolved promptly it will use its right to take it directly to the Court of Arbitration for Sport,” Banka said on Twitter.
In her defence, Valieva said the positive test was the result of a mix-up with her grandfather’s heart medication.
The case further damaged Russia’s already tarnished record on doping prevention and shone a spotlight on the support staff of young athletes.
Russian athletes at the Beijing Olympics were already competing without their flag and national anthem because of separate doping sanctions.
(Reporting by Manasi Pathak in Bengaluru, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
