Russian Figure Skater tests positive for drugs - delays ceremony for team medals

[Wyliefan]

I wonder if Team Valieva is sticking with the story.

 

[Sylvia]

Yesterday SkatingScores shared this 9/21/23 German article by Hajo Seppelt and Peter Wozny that translates to "Valieva doping case elicits international criticism":

Verfahren vor dem CAS: Dopingfall Walijewa sorgt für internationale Kritik

Der Sportgerichtshof CAS verhandelt ab Dienstag den Dopingfall Walijewa hinter verschlossenenen Türen. Internationale Athletenvertreter befürchten Hinterzimmerdeals.

www.sportschau.de

Machine translated excerpt from the end:

However, the CAS arbitrator that Valiyeva's side chose for the proceedings could already indicate that the legal scope could go beyond this and be exploited: The Paris professor of public law, Mathieu Maisonneuve, has repeatedly written in essays the fight of the German speed skater Claudia Pechstein through the courts and before the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.
Hardly any athlete before Pechstein had demonstrated to the CAS in such a painful way that its jurisdiction - completely contrary to its omnipotence self-image - does not have to be the measure of all things. Pechstein's lawyers succeeded in having their CAS proceedings reviewed not only in Strasbourg, but also in German courts.
This enabled them to have the highest court declare that the statutes of the CAS violated the European Convention on Human Rights. And they ultimately successfully lodged an appeal with the Federal Constitutional Court: This overturned a - actually final - instance ruling by the Federal Court of Justice.

3 more tweets in the thread: https://twitter.com/SkatingScores/status/1706689092434436317

https://twitter.com/x/status/1706689093722104183

Seppelt & co. did an entire 5-part podcast series on ??Pechstein's decade-plus doping case against the ISU with more twists & turns than an IJS step sequence. The well-produced series made in cooperation with German public broadcasting is fascinating: [link to part 1 below]

Der Fall Pechstein (1/6): Verdacht

Am späten Abend des 7. Februar 2009 steht Claudia Pechstein in Nachthemd und Badelatschen in einem norwegischen Hotelzimmer. Geschockt. Eben hat sie erfahren, dass mit ihren Blutwerten etwas nicht in Ordnung sei. Noch ahnt die Berliner Eisschnellläuferin nicht, dass sich in diesem Moment ihr...

www.rbb-online.de

 

[overedge]

I wonder if Team Valieva is sticking with the story.

I have obtained a secret transcript of Valieva's testimony to the CAS.

Valieva: [sniffles] I was only sharing water with my grandpa, and people made fun of me online for saying that. There was even an emoji, and it looked nothing like my dear Papa.

CAS arbitrator: What is an emoji?

Valieva: [confused] It's this thing online, where you make a picture and it moves.

CAS arbitrator: Oh you mean like cartoons? I loved that Mickey Mouse....

Valieva: Um, I guess so....

 

[Theatregirl1122]

Yes, you are right. Russia would end up with 54 points which is one point more than Canada.
The question is would her points just be dropped from Russia or awarded to the other skaters? That would mean USA ends up with 67, Japan with 65, Canada with 55 leaving Russia with 54.

You also end up with 1. USA, 2. JPN, 3. CAN if you do the thing which has historical precedent, which is drop the entire team because they competed with an ineligible team member. In any other team event, disqualifying a member disqualifies the team.

 

[Karen-W]

Yesterday SkatingScores shared this 9/21/23 German article by Hajo Seppelt and Peter Wozny that translates to "Valieva doping case elicits international criticism":

Verfahren vor dem CAS: Dopingfall Walijewa sorgt für internationale Kritik

Der Sportgerichtshof CAS verhandelt ab Dienstag den Dopingfall Walijewa hinter verschlossenenen Türen. Internationale Athletenvertreter befürchten Hinterzimmerdeals.

www.sportschau.de

Machine translated excerpt from the end:

3 more tweets in the thread: https://twitter.com/SkatingScores/status/1706689092434436317

https://twitter.com/x/status/1706689093722104183

Der Fall Pechstein (1/6): Verdacht

Am späten Abend des 7. Februar 2009 steht Claudia Pechstein in Nachthemd und Badelatschen in einem norwegischen Hotelzimmer. Geschockt. Eben hat sie erfahren, dass mit ihren Blutwerten etwas nicht in Ordnung sei. Noch ahnt die Berliner Eisschnellläuferin nicht, dass sich in diesem Moment ihr...

www.rbb-online.de

But, here is a question... Since Russia is not a member of the EU, do they even have any standing in the European Court of Human Rights? They certainly wouldn't have standing in the German Supreme Court.

 

[allezfred]

But, here is a question... Since Russia is not a member of the EU, do they even have any standing in the European Court of Human Rights? They certainly wouldn't have standing in the German Supreme Court.

The European Court of Human Rights is not an EU institution.

 

[Frau Muller]

It's a pattern with her of "punching down," if you will -- going after people with no power over a situation. I was really put off by the way she acted toward Diana. And to some extent, she treated Nathan Chen the same way -- reaming him out for not trying to cancel Nationals when he had absolutely no say in the matter, and in fact (according to his book) he desperately wished that the powers that be WOULD cancel it.

The Brennan interview of Davis - and the attitude, look & responses of Gleb Smolkin - is why I applauded the news of their marriage. I’ll never forget how Smolkin dealt with Brennan. A true hero and gentleman in my book. ?
I’m not even a fan of Davis/Smolkin. Just a fan of decent honest behavior.

 

[airgelaal]

The European Court of Human Rights is not an EU institution.

Yes, but russia is no longer a party to the European Convention on Human Rights

 

[caseyedwards]

You also end up with 1. USA, 2. JPN, 3. CAN if you do the thing which has historical precedent, which is drop the entire team because they competed with an ineligible team member. In any other team event, disqualifying a member disqualifies the team.

Or the East German precedent where you know everyone was doping but you do nothing

 

[Karen-W]

Yes, but russia is no longer a party to the European Convention on Human Rights

But were they at the time of the doping violation? If so, would they have the ability to proceed?

 

[airgelaal]

But were they at the time of the doping violation? If so, would they have the ability to proceed?

I am not an expert in international law, but russia has adopted many controversial laws since then. Including laws that state that russia can ignore the decisions of this court. So it`s unclear on what basis they will work in court, whose decisions must be ignored

 

[VGThuy]

Yes, but russia is no longer a party to the European Convention on Human Rights

But were they at the time of the doping violation? If so, would they have the ability to proceed?

From a quick search, The European Court of Human Rights was created under the auspices of the Council of Europe. This Court has jurisdiction to preside over complaints submitted by individuals and States concerning violations of the European Convention on Human Rights. The complaints must allege a violation of the Convention by a State party to the Convention and that violation must directly and significantly affect the applicant.

So with that in mind, here's a quick timeline:

1. On December 24, 2021, Valieva wins the Ladies individual competition at the 2022 Russian Nationals. Following this event and within the same month, Valieva submitted a routine urine sample for analysis.
2. The normal 20-day testing time lapsed, apparently due to COVID-19 backlogs and was forwarded for evaluation on February 2022. (Apparently there was an expedited procedure for athletes competing at the upcoming 2022 Olympics, but this sample was not marked for such, but I'm not sure about that.)
3. On February 8, 2022, the medal ceremony for the figure skating team event where ROC (with Valieva as member of the ROC team) won gold. This has not yet taken place as of this date.
4. On February 8, 2022, the December 2021 urine sample tested positive. The test came back one day after the team event concluded.
5. On February 11, 2022 was officially confirmed - the sample was analyzed at the Doping Control Laboratory at Stockholm's Karolinska University Hospital, a WADA-accredited lab.
6. March 9, 2022, Valieva did not request that be B sample be tested by this deadline, thus seemingly accepting the results of the initial testing and relying on her explanation that the positive sample was due to her grandfather's medications containing TMZ being mixed into her own use of allowed nutrients and supplements or had contaminated it.
7. On March 15, 2022, Russia voluntarily withdrew from the Council of Europe hours before a vote on its expulsion was to take place, but that procedure was already under way and the Committee of Ministers decided to expel Russia with immediate effect.
8. On September 16, 2022, Russia ceased being a high contracting party to the Convention. This means that the European Court of Human Rights can still examine alleged violations of the Convention committed by Russia up to that date.
9. On Mid-November 2022, WADA to requested CAS review of Vaieva's case with an eye towards a 4-year supsension and to rescind her first place performance from the Team Competition because RUSADA did not meet the WADA-imposed deadling of Nov. 4 to deliver a verdict on Valieva's case despite agreeing to hold a disciplinary hearing reviewing the RUSADA investigation results in late September or early October 2022.
10. On January 13, 2023, RUSADA finally renders a verdict deciding to strip Valieva of her gold medal and title from the 2022 Russian Figure Skating Nationals due to the positive test but refursed to strip her of her gold medal in the Olympic team event.
11. In response, WADA pressed its request for CAS to review this case adding the RUSADA decision, which is taking place now.

Thus far, no action by any official or state entity has been taken against Valieva as a result of the positive urine sample other than the January 13, 2023 RUSADA ruling. She was affected by the ban on Russian and Belarussian athletes due to the invasion of Ukraine, but that is unrelated to this issue, and she has been freely been able to compete or skate within Russian borders.

Regarding the Court's jurisdiction over CAS, from a quick reading of the Claudia Pechstein case, it seemed as though the ECHR declared itself competent to hear her case against CAS despite the fact that CAS is not a state court or a public entity, but a privately-owned institution. The rationale was that because Switzerland, a member-state of the Convention, upheld the CAS decisions that suspended Pechstein.

The Court said Switzerland upholding CAS's decisions violated her and another applicant's human rights protected by the Convention due to CAS essentially forcing athletes into this arbitration procedure that denied Pechstein's explicit request for a public hearing. That existing procedure was found to have violated an individual of a member state's "right to court" or their due process rights.

However, since this CAS hearing is happening now, I wonder if Valieva would be afforded the same arguments Pechstein had. In the aftermath of the Pechstein ruling, CAS already changed its rules to allow for public hearings that allow a physical person who is a party to the proceedings to request a public hearing if the matter is of a disciplinary nature. As we saw with the CAS denial of the US's request for a public hearing, no request for a public hearing was made by any direct party to the action.

Also, in case anynone is interested, CAS can always deny those requests in the interests of "morals, public order, national security, where the interests of minors or the protection of the private life of the parties so require, where publicity would prejudice the interests of justice, where the proceedings are exclusively related to questions of law, or where a hearing held in first instance was already public."

There's also one hail mary argument, which is the fact that the ECHR's Pechstein decision did not go into one of her lawyer's arguments, which is determining whether CAS was truly an independent body since it's entangled with the Sports Governing Bodies whose decisions its reviewing. However, there has been no decision made for or against Valieva on this issue by any of the appealing sports governing bodies with only RUSADA providing a decision.

 

[kwanfan1818]

Apparently there was an expedited procedure for athletes competing at the upcoming 2022 Olympics, but this sample was not marked for such, but I'm not sure about that.)

That's exactly what happened: RUSADA did not mark Valieva's sample expedited. Had they done so, it would have been tested like all of the other expedited samples, before the Olympics started.

 

[overedge]

That's exactly what happened: RUSADA did not mark Valieva's sample expedited. Had they done so, it would have been tested like all of the other expedited samples, before the Olympics started.

And a cynic might wonder, when she was one of the biggest medal hopes for Russia at the Olympics, why that sample wasn't expedited. Maybe it was an oversight. Maybe someone somewhere had a reason to suspect that the sample would test positive, and if the test was caught in a backlog, she could get her medal and go home and no one would notice when the test results came back. Who knows

 

[Rukia]

And a cynic might wonder, when she was one of the biggest medal hopes for Russia at the Olympics, why that sample wasn't expedited. Maybe it was an oversight. Maybe someone somewhere had a reason to suspect that the sample would test positive, and if the test was caught in a backlog, she could get her medal and go home and no one would notice when the test results came back. Who knows

This is the part of the narrative that I do believe from them, that it was just a mistake. I feel positive they had no reason to believe she'd get a positive test, otherwise they would have either found a way to handle it quietly so no one found out or switched her out for events. I have no reason to think they would make any special exceptions for her. Those athletes were all just replaceable cogs to them.

 

[Coco]

Except...her own coach had reason to favor her above that "little traitor" Trusova, and Anna S, the other option, had struggled all year. The alternate did not train with Eteri nor did she train in Moscow.

So I'm not quite sure they were replaceable cogs, since there seems to be favoritism towards Moscow ladies.

But I do agree it was probably a mistake. How such a mistake could be made, though, is a puzzler. Maybe she had more media duties and had her doping done after the other ladies medalists, so her sample was separate from theirs? Who knows...

 

[MacMadame]

This is the part of the narrative that I do believe from them, that it was just a mistake. I feel positive they had no reason to believe she'd get a positive test, otherwise they would have either found a way to handle it quietly so no one found out or switched her out for events. I have no reason to think they would make any special exceptions for her. Those athletes were all just replaceable cogs to them.

I think it was a mistake too.

The normal procedure when an athlete tests positive is to ban them and take away their results during the banned period. This happens even if the results come to light after the event. There is no reason to think this time would be different (though it did turn out that way, it was unprecedented and not to be expected) so why take the chance?

 

[Lilia A]

I could read Louise Radnofsky's WSJ article by clicking on the link embedded here: https://twitter.com/louiseradnofsky/status/1706716751671521688

https://twitter.com/x/status/1706716751671521688

I previously mentioned this in this very thread, but if the outcome were to affect the Olympic results, the ISU can look at the FIG for how to handle "team sports that aren't team sports per se", so like not sports like hockey or soccer. I'll reference the underage gymnast at the Sydney Olympics again. Even though it was the "team final", the entire team was disqualified when her results were cancelled. The other Chinese gymnasts kept their individual results in the individual finals they competed, but as far as the team final is concerned, they don't have 6th place (last place) to their name, they all have a DSQ as their placement. Same for the team qualification placement. So, since the concept of "team" is so new to figure skating, they do have another sport to look at and what they did in a similar situation. And I'll say this again for those who continue to cry that 15 year old Kamila had no control over the doping and shouldn't be held responsible, you can't possibly tell me that 14 year old Dong Fangxiao had any say on what date of birth her passport reflected. If they had no problem punishing a 14 year old who was owned by the government and only got to see her parents twice a year, why would they have such leniency on someone in a far better situation? I just hope that justice will be served and that the people who deserve their medals will get them. I can't say I'm too optimistic, but I still have hope that the right decision will be made and that the 3 sets of medals will be given to their rightful owners (hint, option C).

 

[Rainbow]

I previously mentioned this in this very thread, but if the outcome were to affect the Olympic results, the ISU can look at the FIG for how to handle "team sports that aren't team sports per se", so like not sports like hockey or soccer. I'll reference the underage gymnast at the Sydney Olympics again. Even though it was the "team final", the entire team was disqualified when her results were cancelled. The other Chinese gymnasts kept their individual results in the individual finals they competed, but as far as the team final is concerned, they don't have 6th place (last place) to their name, they all have a DSQ as their placement. Same for the team qualification placement. So, since the concept of "team" is so new to figure skating, they do have another sport to look at and what they did in a similar situation. And I'll say this again for those who continue to cry that 15 year old Kamila had no control over the doping and shouldn't be held responsible, you can't possibly tell me that 14 year old Dong Fangxiao had any say on what date of birth her passport reflected. If they had no problem punishing a 14 year old who was owned by the government and only got to see her parents twice a year, why would they have such leniency on someone in a far better situation? I just hope that justice will be served and that the people who deserve their medals will get them. I can't say I'm too optimistic, but I still have hope that the right decision will be made and that the 3 sets of medals will be given to their rightful owners (hint, option C).

There ist more than enough precedent. 2001 World Championships in Rhythmic Gymnastics in Madrid for example. Russia had originally won the team competition. Later Kabaeva and Tschaschtschina as part of a four women team got bans because of doping and the whole team lost their placement. Actually, the timeline of events ist similar to Valieva. The testing happend at the Goodwill Games some weeks before the worlds, but the positive results came back after the worlds.

 

[Sylvia]

I just came across this video in which Vincent Zhou was interviewed by Don Riddell, CNN's TV & digital sports broadcaster, starting after the 2-minute-mark of this 7-minute segment (it took place on Monday, Sept. 25 before the CAS hearing began): https://www.cnn.com/videos/sports/2023/09/25/exp-vincent-zhou-chat-fst-092505p-seg1-cnn-sports.cnn

There's now a long article by Riddell, dated today with Vincent's CNN interview video embedded (just saw it on my Twitter/X timeline, shared by Global Athlete): https://www.cnn.com/2023/09/28/sport/vincent-zhou-medal-kamila-valieva-doping-spt-intl/index.html
Excerpts:

“Testing positive and missing the individual event was already surreal enough,” Zhou told CNN Sport. “But then layers of complexity and absurdity kept on being added to the situation.
“I don’t think any of us thought that it would take this long to resolve what was a seemingly black and white case, but here we are. And it still feels every bit as surreal as it did on day one.”

Rob Koehler, Global Athlete’s Director General, is also critical of the USOPC. “It’s surprising,” he told CNN. “They haven’t really stood up for their athletes.”
Koehler believes the reason is that national sports organizations value their athletes less than they do their relationships with other governing bodies.
“The athletes are expendable, but the partnerships with the international federations and the IOC are not, so they toe the party line,” said Koehler. “They don’t want to upset their friends above them; they don’t want to make any waves or upset anybody.”
The USOPC didn’t respond to CNN’s request for comment, but US Figure Skating said that it’s tried to advocate for its athletes.
Explaining that while it doesn’t have any legal standing in the process, US Figure Skating says it’s worked hard to communicate with its skaters and raise awareness of their situation. In June, it created an exhibit of the nine empty medal boxes at the US Olympic and Paralympic Museum in Colorado.
“U.S. Figure Skating will continue to stand alongside and support our athletes throughout this frustrating situation,” the organization said in a statement. “U.S. Figure Skating seeks a level playing field across the Olympic Movement and eagerly awaits the final results of the CAS hearing.”

By the time the skaters will have learned the outcome of the CAS hearing, it will be close to two years since one of their proudest achievements ended in such a bitter anticlimax, and the cost to each of them has likely been profound.
“There are significant economic costs associated with not receiving an Olympic medal,” Zhou said in his statement. “Sponsors love medals.”
Zhou elaborated further to CNN Sport, explaining that figure skaters rely on the benevolence of partners to enable them to perform at the highest level.
“It gets very difficult when you put in all that work, and you don’t actually have anything to show for it,” the US skater added. “Sponsors look at you like, ‘Well, you’re not an Olympic medalist.’ Your market value just simply is not the same.”

As a result of the lengthy delay to resolve the case, Koehler believes there could be a case to sue for damages and lost earnings.
“These Olympic athletes fund a multi-billion dollar industry,” Koehler said, noting that the IOC brings in $2.4 billion annually. “The athletes directly get less than half a percent of that. They’re not compensated for attending the Games. And the IOC leads athletes to believe that, if they’re a medalist, they’ll be set for life, which is a façade.
“And yet, when they deservedly should be taking home a medal, they are refused, so they can’t celebrate and capitalize from something they have worked so hard for. The IOC has robbed them of that, right from the beginning. It’s not an athlete-first organization; it’s a disgrace.”

Preach it, Rob Koehler!

In the meantime, the wait goes on for Vincent Zhou, who remains in some kind of Olympic purgatory, unsure of his status in the pantheon, and when he’ll ever have anything tangible to show for it. He says that he’s trying to find meaning in it all, and the motivation to keep fighting.
“Justice needs to be swiftly served,” Zhou explained. “This isn’t the first doping violation, and it certainly won’t be the last. If left unchecked, this will keep happening. We want to do all we can to ensure that the future generations don’t have to see this kind of thing.”
When asked how confident he is of succeeding in that mission, his answer is less than convincing: “I mean, one can dream, right?”

 

[Sylvia]

3 minutes ago:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1707411598120468683

Adjournment in the CAS hearing in the arbitration proceedings involving RUSADA, ISU, WADA and Ms Valieva
28.09.2023 16:51

Adjournment in the CAS hearing in the arbitration proceedings involving RUSADA, ISU, WADA and Ms Valieva

www.tas-cas.org

MEDIA RELEASE
FIGURE SKATING
IN THE ARBITRATION PROCEEDINGS INVOLVING RUSADA, THE ISU,WADA AND KAMILA VALIEVA, THE CAS HEARING HAS BEEN ADJOURNED AND WILL RESUME ON 9-10 NOVEMBER 2023

Lausanne, 28 September 2023 - The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) hearing in the arbitration procedures CAS 2023/A/9451 Association Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) v. Kamila Valieva, CAS 2023/A/9455 International Skating Union (ISU) v. Kamila Valieva, Association Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA), and CAS 2023/A/9456 World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) v. Association Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) & Kamila Valieva) has been adjourned at the end of its third day.

The Panel of arbitrators in charge of the matter heard the parties (RUSADA, ISU, WADA and Ms Valieva), their experts and witnesses during the hearing that took place at the CAS headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, this week. After the presentation of evidence by the parties, the Panel ordered the production of further documentation and, in order to allow the parties to consider and address such documentation, allowed two further days for the hearing of the appeal. The hearing will therefore resume on 9 and 10 November 2023 in Lausanne at which time the evidentiary proceedings will be completed and the Panel will hear the parties’ closing submissions. The Panel will then deliberate and prepare the Arbitral Award containing its decision.

 

[Frau Muller]

In Nov, another trip to Switzerland for Brennan?

 

[Sylvia]

^^^

 

[Karen-W]

Oh, hell. This is ****ing ridiculous! I'm so over the bullshit from RUSADA and the ROC. I know they're not related, but I hope the ISU keeps the ban in place through the next Olympics!

 

[Debbie S]

WTF? If RUSADA didn't bring the docs they wanted, too effing bad.

 

[kwanfan1818]

the Panel ordered the production of further documentation

WTF? If RUSADA didn't bring the docs they wanted, too effing bad.

Why do you think RUSADA knew what they were going to ask for before they asked for it?

 

[Colonel Green]

We’ll be ready to present the medals by the time we get to Milan-Cortina.

 

[Karen-W]

Seriously - the 2026 Team Medals are going to be awarded before these ones.

 

[Lara]

This is beyond ridiculous and I hope Vincent and all the other affected athletes are able to sue in the future for career damages. Enough already.

The one silver lining is that it increases the chance of not having any Russians in Montreal.

 

[Tesla]

??????