The ongoing Valieva situation & the Beijing Olympics Team Medals - 29 Jan. 2024 - CAS decision released

[Elizabeth]

This is quite a good summary of what has been happening this week including questions about what happens next, especially with respect to the Valieva coaching team: https://anythinggoe.com/making-sense-of ... -decision/

[happyheini]

so sad! What a tidal wave of unfortunate outcome for so many "innocent bystanders" like the US, Japanese and Canadian teams but most of all ruined life of a young person. And most probably without any repercussions to the coaching team, and the Russian Federation/Government.

[kittykins]

Thanks for the information! Skate Canada has excellent people to help with the appeal, no doubt. It makes complete sense that Canada should be awarded more points. Good grief, and I agree with you Henie. What a shame that her whole career will be tarnished.

[Elizabeth]

The full decision from the CAS has now been published - all 129 pages of it: https://t.co/I1pvBC5IWB

A couple of extracts:
The Mr. Solovyov referred to below is the person referred to as her grandfather - but actually that is not correct.
From elsewhere in the report:

Mr Gennaidy Vasilyevich Solovyov is the father of the former partner of Ms Alsu Valieva and was referred to by the Athlete as her grandfather. He will be referred to in this Award as “Mr Solovyov” or the “Grandfather”.

Beware strawberry desserts made by your grandfather!!!

Given the stringent weight control known to exist in that training camp, even eating a strawberry dessert sounds very implausible!

By the way, can you imagine taking all of these (approved) medications/supplements?

[happyheini]

My head is spinning...

[kittykins]

Thanks for the information. The excuses made for how she ingested the TMZ are pure baloney. Considering all the drugs in her system, there is a pattern there of inappropriate drug or supplement use. It's also abuse of a minor imho. It's interesting that the gentleman isn't really her grandfather. Whenever stories keep changing, it's almost always indication of foul play. They are grasping for straws!! I hope this circus comes to an end soon, but I guess that is highly unlikely.

[Elizabeth]

The ISU has put out a new statement "explaining" why they left the Russians in the bronze medal position and basically standing by it (for now) and stating that the rule quoted by Skate Canada does not apply: https://isu.org/isu-news/news/145-news/ ... PM,2XUPD,1

09 February 2024

Lausanne / Switzerland

Further to the International Skating Union’s (ISU) Statement of January 30, 2024 regarding Kamila Valieva (ROC), the ISU takes the discussions within the Figure Skating community and the media with regard to the re-ranking of teams for the Olympic Winter Games (OWG) Beijing 2022 Team event very seriously.

The ISU wishes to express its understanding and appreciation for the patience of the Skaters and ISU Member Federations involved in the Team event, together with their families, friends and fans. They have already waited two years for certainty over the final results and medal distribution.

The opportunity to be awarded the correct medals within the special environment of an Olympic Winter Games was lost due to an Anti-Doping Rule Violation (ADRV). While all involved are determined to ensure proper recognition for the rightful medalists, we regret that moment in Beijing cannot be replicated.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) decision announced on January 29 that the retroactive application of Kamila Valieva’s disqualification is the responsibility of the sports organization concerned, notably the ISU. The ISU has remained resolved to ensure that the applicable rules and principles as well as the CAS decision are correctly followed, and that any changes to the results were applied accordingly.

The decision of the ISU Council with regard to the consequences to the official results of the Team event of Beijing 2022, clearly expressed in the ISU Statement of January 30, 2024, was based on a comprehensive evaluation from legal experts. This evaluation was, in turn, founded on the applicable rules and principles that are specific to this OWG Team event and is, therefore, the only decision that complies with the CAS Panel’s award. For the sake of clarity Rule 353 para 4 in the ISU Special Regulations is not applicable in this case.

In any complex and extraordinary situation like this, the reallocation of points could negatively affect the relative team ranking, adversely impacting teams that had nothing to do with the incident in question. Therefore, we have to abide by the rules and principles. In light of this case, we will further clarify the rules and principles moving forward to ensure any such cases are dealt with more efficiently in the future.

The CAS decision itself may be subject to appeal, therefore the ISU will not be discussing this matter in further detail in public at this stage.

The ISU notes with disappointment and concern the possible circumstances in which a minor has been found to have committed a significant ADRV. The ISU is fully committed to taking any appropriate steps to ensure the protection and safeguarding of all athletes, uphold the ethical behavior of the entourage and to continue the fight for clean sport and the integrity and fairness of skating competitions.

[Elizabeth]

This is the rule that the ISU says "not applicable"

[Elizabeth]

The Canadian Olympic Committee has responded

[kittykins]

I just saw an interview with Scott Hamilton on Global TV in an online news feed from a few days ago. He's great! lol

https://globalnews.ca/video/10274881/ru ... for-doping

[Elizabeth]

This CBC article includes a link to part of an interview Devin Heroux of CBC Sports did with Kirsten Moore-Towers: https://www.cbc.ca/sports/olympics/wint ... -1.7111049

The article (from yesterday) ends with this comment:

"We are looking at options right now and will publish our decision early next week," a Skate Canada spokesperson said in an email.

[Elizabeth]

There is now a separate thread about the appeals on the ISU decision on the Team Event medal issue.

Just to keep things regarding Valieva complicated, an appeal has been registered with the Federal Court of Switzerland against CAS’s decision to disqualify Kamila Valieva

[happyheini]

indeed

[Elizabeth]

While this is not specifically about the Valieva situation itself, it does show that there may be more consequences for skater/athlete "entourages" in future and gives a bit of an update on the current status: https://apnews.com/article/wada-doping- ... 6937cd0292

Russian skater’s doping case leaves WADA uneasy and targeting new rules before next Winter Olympics
LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — The doping case of Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva left a “very unpleasant” taste with the World Anti-Doping Agency, which is unhappy that the teenager was the only one punished with a ban while her coaches and entourage have not been sanctioned.

WADA now wants anti-doping rules to be updated before the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy to give more powers to investigate athlete entourages, officials said at the anti-doping body’s annual conference Tuesday.

“It is clear that the taste of this case is very unpleasant when you see that there was a choice made to sacrifice an athlete rather than indicating who actually helped her dope,” WADA director general Olivier Niggli said.

Valieva was given a four-year ban by the Court of Arbitration for Sport in January following an appeal by WADA. She was 15 when her positive test for a banned heart medication was revealed at the 2022 Beijing Winter Games, and later blamed on a strawberry dessert prepared by her grandfather. She has been the only person punished despite the World Anti-Doping Code mandating that the people working with underage athletes implicated in doping cases should also be investigated.

The responsibility to conduct those investigations falls on national authorities and there is no sign that Valieva’s renowned coach Eteri Tutberidze and medical support staff will be held to account in Russia.

Instead, Tutberidze was last year awarded one of Russia’s highest honors authorized by President Vladimir Putin.

Niggli acknowledged that “the evidence is not there” to link the coach directly with Valieva’s doping case, suggesting that “maybe the physio, maybe the doctor” were involved.

Still, WADA confirmed that it feels the adults responsible for Valieva’s case have eluded the anti-doping system.

“We think the athlete didn’t take this substance alone, it was not her initiative,” WADA President Witold Banka told The Associated Press in an interview. “She faced the consequences.”

“It is never nice when we see the athlete punished and we feel that someone who was really responsible for it from Russia is free of charge,” Banka added, lamenting that “the current geopolitical situation” will not allow for a WADA-appointed investigation in Russia.

Valieva and Russian sports officials have filed an appeal against the CAS ruling at Switzerland’s supreme court, which can intervene on limited grounds of abuse of legal process. The federal court typically takes at least several months to give a ruling.

The skater’s ban is set to expire in December 2025 — just three weeks after the next global review of the anti-doping code hosted by WADA. That meeting is scheduled to be held in Busan, South Korea.

“Maybe this (Valieva) case shows how important it is that we have to improve in the anti-doping system. We are doing it now,” Banka said.

Tutberidze is now coaching a new generation of teenage Russian skaters preparing for the 2026 Milan-Cortina d’Ampezzo Olympics.

Niggli was asked what the International Olympic Committee, International Skating Union and anti-doping officials can do to prevent a possible repeat of the Valieva case in Italy.

“The ISU would have to look at their testing program leading up to the games to make sure that all athletes maybe training still with the same coach — even so, we don’t know if she has anything to do with that — are being properly tested,” he said.

In fresh appeals to CAS, Valieva and Russian skating officials are challenging the fallout of her disqualification from the Beijing Olympics. The ISU’s reallocation of points in the team event dropped the Russians from the gold medal to bronze, awarding the Olympic title to the United States.

Canada’s team, which placed fourth in Beijing, also appealed to CAS get the bronze. The court has given no timetable to judge the latest round of appeals.

The team event medals were never awarded in Beijing because of the Valieva case.

[fred]

She took a cold medication. The rest is anti-Russian politics.