Russian Olympic Chief rejects 'provisional' recognition of Valieva's results

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After Valieva's results were considered as only provisional, the president of the Russian Olympic Committee Stanislav Pozdnyakov, said his organization "categorically disagrees" with the decision. 

Kamila Valieva, a Russian figure skater caught in political crosshairs of a doping scandal that was blown out of proportion, is in the middle of an investigation for the positive test which she returned in December. The test, though outdated, was revealed only after she had scored gold in Beijing. 

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has postponed the medal ceremony for the team event, and will not be holding one for the women's individual event if Valieva were to win a medal after being cleared by the sports' court.

A spokesman for the IOC, Mark Adams, said that any results involving 15-year-old Valieva in Beijing will carry an "asterisk" until her case is resolved. 

However, Pozdnyakov "categorically disagrees" with this, saying results should not be subject to any revision under any circumstances, no matter what Valieva's case brings. 

“Regarding the result of the team tournament, the Russian Olympic Committee has already sent a letter to the ISU [International Skating Union], in which it stated in detail the position that the results of the team tournament are not subject to revision under any circumstances, regardless of the outcome of the disciplinary investigation against the athlete.

“The anti-doping rules are worded in such a way that a review of results in a team event would only take place if the alleged anti-doping violation had been committed during the Olympic Games. We will defend this position consistently in any possible proceedings, including in the CAS, if required.”

The Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) has sent a letter to the IOC, requesting the medal ceremonies to be held in Beijing.

“The ROC has already sent a corresponding request to the IOC so that the awards ceremony can be held, because this applies not only to Russian athletes, but also to other countries that participated in the competition and are among the winners in the singles skating,” said Oleg Matytsin, Russian Sports Minister. 

“We hope that the opinion of the ROC will be taken into account. As no guilt has been established and the details of the case are not established, it is necessary to allow the ceremony to be held.”

Although Valieva's anti-doping tests were negative before and after the December 25 test, mainstream media exploited the test results to create a distraction from the victory of all 6 Russian ice-skaters in the tournament. 

Unethical & deliberate 

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), right after her win, made an announcement that Valieva's test is positive. Although the test was done more than 45 days ago in mid-December, the announcement prompted anti-Russian propaganda and criminal prosecution threats from the US-based agency.

Rick Sterling, a journalist who has written extensively about doping in the Olympics, explained that what's happening to the 15-year-old is a huge distraction from the actual success of the Olympics, and that people have a short memory: Russian athletes, more often than other nationalities, have fewer positive cases in the anti-doping test. 

"Politicians and media in the West who hate China and Russia have hit the jackpot with news that Kamila Valieva tested positive for a banned drug," says Sterling.

"This is a huge distraction from the ongoing events and success of the Beijing Winter Olympics. It is taking over the media. The fact that Russian athletes have been tested more often with fewer positive cases than most other countries is ignored. This story is very much welcomed by those who see China and Russia as 'adversaries.'"

This card was played immediately after all 6 Russian ice-skaters won the tournament. 

"The timeline of 45 days for WADA to report the adverse sample has actually, in many people's eyes, turned the matter from an anti-doping one to the welfare of a child," says Genevieve Gordon-Thomson, chairwoman of the UK Sports Association, and vice-chairwoman of the British Association for Sport and Law.

"No child should be in a position to be subject to any form of a doping scandal. They simply should not be abused in this way. Valieva is a protected person under the WADA Code and thus should be receiving the required support to compete free from suspicion."

However, the protection of minors was ignored. Lucien Valloni, a Swiss sports lawyer, said "This is now the consequence – that they have not informed correctly, they should not have informed at all... They should not have delayed the medals ceremony."

"When Lance Amstrong, Floyd Landis and other runners of the Tour de France have been tested positive to doping, we never heard so much noise and their cases were presented as 'errors' in their careers," says Guy Mettan, a prominent Swiss journalist. "So it seems to me that Russia is a good scapegoat, paying the highest toll for saving the reputation of a cleaner sport."