Russia’s Valieva says Olympic doping case flared up due to mixing with grandfather’s drugs – National

A 15-year-old figure skater participates Winter Games An Olympic official said on Tuesday an Olympic official said the doping scandal defended her positive doping test result by saying it was caused by mixing with drugs. her grandfather’s heart.

Kamila Valieva made her argument at a hearing with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on whether she should be allowed to continue to compete in Beijing, said Denis Oswald, Permanent Chairman of the Judicial Committee. law of the International Olympic Committee said.

“Her argument was that this contamination happened with a product her grandfather was using,” says Oswald.

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the IOC did not immediately respond to Reuters emails following his comments.

Earlier, the IOC said in a press conference that Valieva’s “B” sample has yet to be analyzed despite initial positive results.

The teenager was given permission by CAS to compete in the singles event Tuesday night after a panel agreed with the decision of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) to lift her ban.

Valieva was tested at her national championship on December 25, but a positive result for a banned angina drug was not revealed until February 8, after she had participated. competed in the Beijing Sports Festival.

Valieva, who will compete in the singles competition starting around 6pm Beijing time (1000 GMT), spoke to Russia’s Channel One after Monday’s practice session.

Valieva said: “The past few days (the past few days) have been very difficult for me.

“It was as if I had no emotions left. I am happy but at the same time emotionally exhausted.”

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The decision by CAS to let Valieva compete, on the grounds that maintaining her suspension would cause irreparable damage to her, sparked outrage from athletes and officials worldwide.

If Valieva finishes in the top three in the women’s singles, the medal ceremony will not be held during the Winter Olympics. The February 7 medal ceremony for the women’s team event, in which the US, Japan and Canada were behind the Russian Olympic Committee, also failed to progress.

Oswald said the delay of the ceremony was necessary because the drug case remained unsolved.

“We want to allocate medals to the right people,” he told a news conference.

Oswald also notes that “a 15-year-old wouldn’t do anything wrong alone.”

On Monday, in an interview with Reuters, WADA president Witold Banka called for a life ban on minors drug use.

Oswald said that sample B has not yet been tested by the laboratory, any ban will only be decided after a final decision on the case is made.

American Tara Lipinski, the 1998 Olympics women’s champion, said that Valieva should not have been allowed to participate in Tuesday’s event “regardless of age or duration of the test/result”.

“I believe this will leave a permanent scar on our sport.”

(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann and Julien Pretot; Editing by Leela de Kretser, Richard Pullin and Ken Ferris)