Valieva Banned for Four Years, Effective December 25, 2021

[Former Lurve Goddess]

Will CAS's Simona Halep decision affect the Valieva case?

 

[Kateri]

Will CAS's Simona Halep decision affect the Valieva case?

From what I can tell, Halep was able to point to a specific supplement as plausibly contaminated. Valieva would need to supply a plausible source of contamination, and currently all her sources are very implausible.

 

[BittyBug]

Will CAS's Simona Halep decision affect the Valieva case?

I would be surprised if it did. It seems that in her case they found that she had a plausible argument for unintentional doping through a contaminated supplement. In contrast, part of the justification cited for Valieva's comparatively long suspension was the ever changing and not at all credible strawberry cake from grandpa / mom's boyfriend / man who might not in fact even exist on the bus / train / wherever ingested by a skater who was otherwise denied sweets / food / water.

 

[kwanfan1818]

The wording in the Halep case was consistent with the levels of culpability they outlined in the Valieva decision. According to the Valieva decision, Valieva didn’t meet the criteria for any level but the most culpable.

Sometimes I wonder whether WADA is getting kickbacks from law firms, they’re in CAS so often.

 

[MacMadame]

They are protesting losing the gold.

Because they are delusional.

 

[Karen-W]

Because they are delusional.

Shall we hashtag this as #notwrong? Russian delusion knows no bounds.

 

[euterpe]

Where Russia really screwed up was having Valieva skate both SP and FS in the Team event. Valieva had a bad test result from Nationals and should that blow up (as it did), at least Russia would lose 10 points, not 20.
They'd still be behind the US, but silver is still better than a contested bronze.

Valieva skated well in the team event, but since the main event was the next day, (and she couldn't get the "quick recovery" effect of the banned 'heart medication') it's no wonder she so badly underperformed in the main event.

 

[Winnipeg]

This whole thing gets even more ridiculous. It should have been decided immediately in accordance with the rules: banned substance, then disqualification, then next skater or team moves up the podium in accordance. Following the rules would have saved so much time and effort, would have been better for the athletes involved who FOLLOWED the rules and would not have continued to make the sport seem so flaky wrt rules.

 

[Trillian]

Where Russia really screwed up was having Valieva skate both SP and FS in the Team event.

Where Russia really screwed up was in having a state-sponsored doping program at all.

 

[Winnipeg]

Exactly Trillion!!!

 

[Vagabond]

Valieva skated well in the team event, but since the main event was the next day, (and she couldn't get the "quick recovery" effect of the banned 'heart medication') it's no wonder she so badly underperformed in the main eveeventI doubt that a

I doubt that all the trimetazidine in the world would have helped Valieva overcome the psychological shock of having her doping test results published.

 

[skatingfan5]

Valieva skated well in the team event, but since the main event was the next day, (and she couldn't get the "quick recovery" effect of the banned 'heart medication') it's no wonder she so badly underperformed in the main event.

Actually she had a week before the SP to recover (the Men and Dance events were what followed the TE.). But as @Vagabond posted, no amount of drugs would have helped her psychologically recover from having her failed doping test revealed.

 

[caseyedwards]

Where Russia really screwed up was in having a state-sponsored doping program at all.

All sports is state sponsored! How do people really say in a country where all sports in state sponsored and part of the government budget that the doping is policy by government too. Essentially all behavior is state sponsored. All Eteris training methods are state sponsored. State sponsored dieting, state sponsored quads, state sponsored backloading!

 

[caseyedwards]

"Invalid composition" does not work here because a team was perfectly within the rules to only compete in three of the four disciplines. The ISU just set themselves up for disaster by saying some rules applied from their regular constitution of rules, only to have left the section directly below (team event purposes) pretty much empty and all other wording vague as always.

I believed that a team having competed in 4 events can’t just be judged to have done 3! Because that 4th discipline affected the scores and it’s totally possible that a different team could have qualified to do the free skates. So the only thing that truly makes sense is to disqualify the entire team and all the points of everyone

 

[Karen-W]

I believed that a team having competed in 4 events can’t just be judged to have done 3! Because that 4th discipline affected the scores and it’s totally possible that a different team could have qualified to do the free skates. So the only thing that truly makes sense is to disqualify the entire team and all the points of everyone

Well, what you believe is not what the ISU rules for the TE say, soooooooo... next.

 

[Sylvia]

At the Montreal Worlds media day yesterday, Skate Canada CEO Debra Armstrong, Sadovsky, Poirier & Schizas were asked about the team medal situation:

Canadian figure skaters wait patiently for verdict on 2022 Olympic team bronze

Skate Canada's position is that the ISU did not appropriately apply Rule 353, which states 'competitors having finished the competition and who initially placed lower than the disqualified competitor will move up accordingly in their placement.'

www.ctvnews.ca

Reported today in the Russian media (and picked up in various English news outlets):

MOSCOW, March 7. /TASS/. Figure skater Kamila Valieva was excluded from the Russian national team. Alexander Kogan, General Director of the Russian Figure Skating Federation, reported this to TASS.
“Valiyeva is not currently part of the national team. Everything has been done in accordance with legislative documents,” Kogan said.

 

[layman]

Valieva has been dropped from the Russian National Team.

https://www.reuters.com/sports/russian-national-team-drops-banned-figure-skater-kamila-valieva-ifx-2024-03-07/

 

[Sylvia]

Anna Keller's "The Future of Figure Skating" podcast episode today (March 11) features a discussion among Meagan Duhamel, Rob Koehler and Paul Greene about the current Anti-Doping System: https://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/threads/future-of-figure-skating-podcast.111616/#post-6565308

 

[Sylvia]

I didn't see this Jan. 30th article posted in this thread: https://hochi.news/articles/20240130-OHT1T51167.html?page=1

Machine translated excerpt:

Mitsugu Ogata, Managing Director of the Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC), responded to an interview in Tokyo on the 30th [January 2024].

Kamila Valieva (Russia), a female figure skater whose doping scandal was discovered at the 2022 Beijing Olympics, will be suspended for four years and her results will be invalidated after December 25, 2021. Regarding the fact that Japan, which placed third in the team competition, was moved up to the silver medal, he said, "Naturally, clean athletes should be recognized. Our mission is to protect (athletes). From that point of view, of course we welcome the move up."

The stipend provided by the JOC to athletes who win medals is 1 million yen for bronze medals and 2 million yen for silver medals. Due to this move, the players will receive an extra 1 million yen.

ETA: https://www.cnbc.com/2022/02/15/how-much-athletes-at-beijing-olympics-get-for-winning-medals.html
According to the chart in this article, USA Olympic gold medalists receive $37,500 and silver medalists $22,500.

 

[Sylvia]

Russian skater’s doping case leaves WADA uneasy and targeting new rules before next Winter Olympics (AP article by Graham Dunbar today):

Russian skater's doping case leaves WADA uneasy and targeting new rules before next Winter Olympics

The doping case of Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva left a “very unpleasant” taste with the World Anti-Doping Agency because the teenager was the only one punished with a ban while her coaches and entourage have not been sanctioned.

apnews.com

 

[Debbie S]

From the above article:

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.

Hmmm, I don't know, maybe keep Russia banned?

 

[Firedancer]

Also that “the current geopolitical situation will not allow for a WADA appointed investigation in Russia.” If Russia will not comply with all anti-doping requirements they need to stay banned.

 

[caseyedwards]

Also that “the current geopolitical situation will not allow for a WADA appointed investigation in Russia.” If Russia will not comply with all anti-doping requirements they need to stay banned.

Who isn’t allowing it? Russia seems to be complying with everything. It completely banned Valieva and dumped her very brutally. Is she homeless on the street?

 

[Sylvia]

Behind a paywall - the chief sports reporter of The Times (London) wrote an article, presumably related to the AP article that I linked above:

Kamila Valieva was plied with 56 medicines aged 13 to 15

Leading anti-doping chief calls for action against entourage of the Russian ice skater after revelation of the ‘sickening’ treatment programme she was exposed to

www.thetimes.co.uk

ETA that I can read the full article from the journalist's post: https://twitter.com/martynziegler/status/1767963798671921221

Excerpts:

Now Travis Tygart, the USA’s anti-doping chief, has called for action against the teenager’s entourage, saying the number of medications given to her was “sickening”. Olivier Niggli, the director general of the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada), described it as “shocking” and said Valieva was “sacrificed” to protect those responsible.
The case is expected to reignite the debate over safeguards for children under 16 in elite sport, and even whether those so young should be allowed to compete. There are also suspicions that Russia’s state-sponsored doping programme that was exposed a decade ago has been replaced by medics seeking out a range of performance-enhancing drugs that have yet to be banned.

Valieva is now 17 and three weeks ago she appeared alongside Vladimir Putin, Russia’s president, when he launched the Future Games in Kazan, a new international sporting event involving athletes from Russia and several of its allies.
That appearance stung Thomas Bach, the IOC president, into a response. Bach, who in 2022 had described Tutberidze’s reaction to Valieva’s fumbling performance in the individual competition as “chilling”, said there was an “urgent need to look more into the entourage of the athletes … the ones that are finally responsible for the violation of the anti-doping rules”.
Bach added: “Valieva was misused for political purposes by having to stand next to President Putin at the so-called Future Games, showing disrespect for all the worldwide anti-doping rules and making a political statement. This is really very heavy to take.”

ETA #2 - posted today (March 14): https://twitter.com/hajoseppelt/status/1768168298057810090
Machine translation: "The World Anti-Doping Agency is making the man [Thomas Bach] who made headlines less for his fight against doping than for his lobbying against tough doping sanctions the winner of its fairness award. It couldn't be more absurd."

Seppelt is referring to this press release: https://www.wada-ama.org/en/news/wada-celebrates-25th-anniversary-during-gala-2024-annual-symposium

Mr. Bańka then highlighted how certain stakeholder groups and individuals had been particularly instrumental to the creation, evolution and strengthening of WADA and Clean Sport, which the Agency wanted to acknowledge with inaugural “Play True Awards,” to recognize long-lasting and significant contributions to the anti-doping movement.

The 2024 Play True Awards were presented to:

• Ben Sandford, former Chair of WADA’s Athlete Committee, on behalf of Athletes of the World;
• Thomas Bach, President of the International Olympic Committee, on behalf of the Sport Movement;
• Dr. Rahul Gupta, Director of the White House National Drug Control Policy and Chair of One Voice, on behalf of the Public Authorities;
• Richard Pound, WADA Founding President 1999-2007;
• The late Honorable John Fahey, WADA President 2008-2013; and
• Sir Craig Reedie, WADA President 2014-2019

 

[caseyedwards]

Being dumped from the team means Valieva can only live now as tool of the state! How else is she supposed to live? I don’t really know what her parents do or anything and if they can support her or she has been supporting them with her athletic career! Also I don’t know if ioc are going to punish Russia more by what Putin did by showcasing her or seeking ban for life for Valieva for being with Putin. Who may have chosen her for his new mistress like he did the gymnast.

 

[MacMadame]

They could have picked someone other than Bach to represent the Sports Movement. How about all the gymnasts who made authorities pay attention to Larry Nassar? Or at least the first one or two.

So I can't get to the article but the headline sounds pretty bad. Was she taking 56 meds at once? That is a lot. The list from the test included a lot of things that are fairly harmless and common for athletes to take (some of which were repeated so the list looks longer than it is) mixed in with actual meds of a questionable nature. The list looked about as long as I expected given the athletes I know who are constantly looking for a (legal) edge and take a lot of supplements. It definitely didn't have 56 different substances on it!

 

[Frau Muller]

She took 56 different meds between ages 13 - 15. More than just one accidental sip of a grandparent’s medicine. Most of the article can be read through LinkedIn…

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www.linkedin.com

 

[Sylvia]

I can read the full article in The Times that's linked in the journalist's post: https://twitter.com/martynziegler/status/1767963798671921221

ETA:

"The Court of Arbitration for Sport findings detail 55 other non-prohibited medications and supplements she was given by Russian team doctors between the ages of 13 and 15. A 56th non-prohibited substance, Ecdysterone, was also found in her urine sample."

The full list is published at the end of the article and is based on the January 29, 2024 CAS Arbitral Award document (129 pages): https://www.tas-cas.org/fileadmin/user_upload/9451-9455-9456_Arbitral_Award__publ._.pdf

 

[caseyedwards]

She took 56 different meds between ages 13 - 15. More than just one accidental sip of a grandparent’s medicine. Most of the article can be read through LinkedIn…

LinkedIn Login, Sign in | LinkedIn

Login to LinkedIn to keep in touch with people you know, share ideas, and build your career.

www.linkedin.com

It doesn’t say 56 illegal steroids

 

[Alilou]

They could have picked someone other than Bach to represent the Sports Movement. How about all the gymnasts who made authorities pay attention to Larry Nassar? Or at least the first one or two.

So I can't get to the article but the headline sounds pretty bad. Was she taking 56 meds at once? That is a lot. The list from the test included a lot of things that are fairly harmless and common for athletes to take (some of which were repeated so the list looks longer than it is) mixed in with actual meds of a questionable nature. The list looked about as long as I expected given the athletes I know who are constantly looking for a (legal) edge and take a lot of supplements. It definitely didn't have 56 different substances on it!

I thought at first that I couldn't get in to see the article, but go by the twitter link and just close the box that says you have to pay.