The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has referred Russian skater Kamila Valieva's Winter Olympics Doping case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) due to the lack of progress in investigations conducted by the Russian anti-doping agency RUSADA.
WADA President Witold Banka made the announcement on Tuesday on Twitter. ”Despite putting RUSADA under formal notice to resolve the Kamila Valieva case promptly, no progress was made,” Banka wrote. “Therefore, I can confirm WADA has now officially referred it directly to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.”
Valieva, 16, found herself at the centre of a high-profile doping case during the Beijing Olympics in February. The European champion and top seed in the individual event, Valieva won the team title, achieving the first women’s quadruple jump in Olympic history. But the day after the title, a positive doping test for a banned substance, trimetazidine, conducted on 25 December and reported to RUSADA on 8 February, was revealed.
CAS allowed her to continue competing at the Beijing Games despite the positive test, citing her young age. She managed to dominate the short programme in a heavy atmosphere but collapsed in the free skate and ended up at the foot of the podium in tears.
The International Olympic Committee did not award any medals for the team event, pending the outcome of the investigation into the Valieva case. On 21 October, RUSADA announced that it would not communicate on the investigation into the young skater.
