Cause of Valieva doping claim revealed

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) Executive Board has defended its decision to clear Russian ice skating star Kamila Valieva for competition, saying her explanation of how a banned angina drug could get into her body seemed plausible.

Valieva’s positive doping test, which was revealed after she helped her team to win gold, dominated the coverage of the ongoing Olympic Games in Beijing. Denis Oswald, a member of the board who heads the IOC’s Disciplinary Commission, responded to criticism of the decision to let the 15-year-old to continue her participation by saying her case had nothing to do with allegations of state-organized doping, which Russia faced in 2014.

Russian athletes are banned from competing under the national flag due to that scandal and have been subject to increased scrutiny by sports officials and the media.

Responding to questions during a daily press conference, Oswald confirmed earlier reports in the Russian media, which said Valieva and the Russian team had suggested that accidental contamination may have been the cause of her positive test. They said her grandfather was taking the drug trimetazidine for a heart condition.

The test sample at the center of the doping controversy was taken in December at the Russian national championships. A WADA lab in Stockholm, which tested it for banned drugs, only reported it last week, after Valieva and her fellow Russian skating stars won gold in a team event. There has been suspicion in Russia that WADA may have manipulated the timing of the procedure to undermine the country’s athletes in Beijing.

© 2022, paradox. All rights reserved.