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Russia has maintained Kamila Valieva's innocence as the teenage sensation at the center of an Olympic doping scandal prepares to skate in Thursday's controversial medal event in Beijing.
"We believe, and we have always said it, that she is innocent," Russian Sports Minister Oleg Matytsin told state news channel Russia-24, according to a report by Russian news agency TASS. Matytsin said the ROC and other officials were giving the 15-year-old the support she needed "to prevent emotions from affecting her performance" in her final event of the Winter Games.
The Kazan-born athlete helped the ROC to gold in the figure skating team event on February 7, but a medal ceremony planned for the following day was canceled after the results of a December 25 drug test returned positive for the banned substance trimetazidine. It remains unclear why the sample in question took so long to analyze.
Following the revelation, Valieva successfully appealed a provisional ban by the Russian Anti-Doping Agency, a decision which was upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport on Monday, just over 24 hours before she was scheduled to compete in the women's singles competition. She finished the Tuesday's short program in first place, with two of her teammates, Russia's Anna Shcherbakova and Alexandra Trusova, taking second and fourth spot, respectively. Sakamoto Kaori of Japan came third.
It was crucial that Valieva's right to participate was restored, said Matytsin, who argued there was "no connection" between her performances at the games, where she has since passed doping tests, and the sample collected before the competition. But the ongoing legal situation has taken a psychological toll on the young Olympian, he said.
"Her condition during the short program spoke of anxiety and emotional fatigue," Matytsin said. "However, she managed to overcome that, which proves that she's the best." The sports minister said it was important to establish the truth about her case as soon as possible.
Valieva, who was crowned Russian champion in December, 2021 and European champion a month later, avoided reporters in the mixed zone after her short program. ROC head Stanislav Pozdnyakov told TASS that her condition was fine.
If she finishes among the top three on Thursday, Valieva's name would carry an asterisk to signify the provisional nature of the result, pending the result of the ongoing investigation, the International Olympic Committee has said. The post-event medal and flower ceremonies have already been canceled, with winning athletes to leave Beijing without their awards. The strong challenge posed by Japan's Sakamoto notwithstanding, Valieva and her teammates have been tipped to win all gold, silver and bronze in what would be the first clean sweep of the figure skating podium by any one nation in Winter Olympics history.
Having led the pack into the women's long program, also known as the free skate, Valieva is last on the bill at No. 25. She is scheduled to perform at 9:57 p.m. local time, or 8:57 a.m. Eastern Time.
About the writer
John Feng is Newsweek's contributing editor for Asia based in Taichung, Taiwan. His focus is on East Asian politics. He ... Read more