Kamila Valieva Olympic doping case: Breaking down the timeline

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Kamila Valieva Olympic doping case: Breaking down the timeline

Updated: 4:53 PM EST Jan 30, 2024

Nearly two years after news broke that 15-year-old Russian figure skating phenom Kamila Valieva received a positive doping test in the middle of the 2022 Winter Olympics, the Court of Arbitration for Sport has reached a verdict on the case.In a release made public Monday morning, the CAS announced that Valieva, now 17, was found guilty of an anti-doping rule violation and sentenced to a 4-year ban beginning Dec. 25, 2021 – meaning she will not be eligible to compete until December 2025. Thus, she was disqualified from the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing where the Russian Olympic Committee won the gold medal in the team figure skating event.Tuesday morning, the International Skating Union released a statement saying the 20 points Valieva earned for ROC in the team event were subtracted from the team’s total score — placing them in third with Japan in second and the United States in first.As this case spans 25 months – and there are still loose ends regarding medal ceremonies – let’s break it down from the beginning.Here is a timeline of the doping case from its start to now:Dec. 25, 2021Valieva takes a drug test required by the Russian Anti-Doping Agency in order to compete in the Russian National Championships, a competition she won. This gold medal secured her spot on the ROC Olympic team. Russian athletes must compete under ROC and not the Russian flag after the 2014 Sochi Olympics doping scandal. Jan. 15, 2022At the 2022 European Championships in Tallinn, Estonia, Valieva brings home yet another gold medal, setting her up as the favorite for first place in the women’s singles event in Beijing.Feb. 4, 2022The Games begin in Beijing. The first figure skating event is the team event. Similar to the gymnastics team event in the Olympics, a federation will pick one skater or pair to compete in each event (men’s singles, women’s singles, ice dance and pair skating) and competitors earn points based on their placements – the skater in first earns 10 points, second nine points, third eight points and so on. In each discipline, skaters compete twice in what’s known as a short program and a free skate (also called a long program).Feb. 6, 2022Valieva is selected to represent the ROC in the team event for both the short program and free skate. She performs the short program flawlessly, landing a triple axel and earning a first-place position and 10 points for her team. Feb. 7, 2022In the women’s team free skate, Valieva stuns judges and fans once again, becoming the first woman to land a quadruple jump at the Olympics. She secured another first-place slot and solidified ROC’s team gold medal with the United States in second, Japan in third and Canada in fourth place.Later that day, the World Anti-Doping Agency’s lab in Stockholm, Sweden, confirms an “adverse analytical finding” in Valieva’s sample from December. According to CNN, the test was completed in Sweden as RUSADA’s laboratory is currently suspended by WADA due to past doping violations, now testing is done by WADA-accredited laboratories in other countries.Feb. 8, 2022Valieva is notified of her test result and provisionally suspended by RUSADA. Then, hours before it was set to take place, the medal ceremony for the team event is postponed to an unknown date. Public reports of an ROC doping violation begin to emerge. As of Jan. 30, 2024, there is still no word on when this medal ceremony will take place.Feb. 9, 2022Valieva appeals her suspension and RUSADA lifts her provisional suspension.Feb. 10, 2022At one of the training facilities in Beijing, Valieva reports to practice and is seen with coach Eteri Tutberidze. All three of the ROC ladies (Alexandra Trusova and Anna Shcherbakova also represented the ROC in Beijing) are coached by Tutberidze.Feb. 11, 2022The International Testing Agency confirms to the public that it was Valieva who failed a test for a banned substance in December. The ITA, on behalf of the International Olympic Committee, WADA and the International Skating Union, say they are appealing to the Court of Arbitration for Sport to have Valieva’s provisional suspension reinstated.Feb. 12, 2022CAS says a hearing regarding Valieva’s positive test will be held on Feb. 13 with a decision expected on Feb. 14.Feb. 14, 2022CAS rules that because Valieva is a minor, she is a “protected person” and cannot be held responsible for her doping test. Therefore, she is allowed to compete in the women’s event. However, CAS also announced it will be launching a larger investigation, and if Valieva places in the top three, a medal ceremony for the women’s event cannot be held until the investigation concludes.Feb. 15, 2022In the short program for the women’s event, Valieva performs and places first despite falling out of her triple axel. Medals for the women’s event are decided on the combined score of the short program and the free skate.The New York Times reports that the prohibited substance Valieva tested positive for was trimetazidine, a drug often used to treat heart conditions like angina. It can help a person’s body metabolize oxygen, and is banned from sport as it can unnaturally increase oxygen capacity and endurance. She also tested positive for two other drugs that are not banned from competition – a drug used to treat shortness of breath called hypoxen and an amino acid supplement commonly used for weight loss, L-carnitine.Valieva and her team of coaches and doctors claim the trimetazidine entered her system through cross-contamination of sharing a glass with her grandfather.Feb. 17, 2022Valieva falls apart during her performance in the free skate, falling to fourth place overall. The women’s competition ends with Shcherbakova in first, Trusova in second and Japan’s Kaori Sakamoto in third.The medal ceremony goes on as planned amid dramatic reactions and meltdowns from the ROC skaters and Tutberidze.Feb. 19, 2022Team USA presents CAS with a petition to receive their silver medals from the team event before the conclusion of the Games. It is denied.Sept. 14, 2022RUSADA announces its investigation into Valieva’s doping violation has been completed. The results are now being processed by WADA and CAS.Sept. 29, 2022WADA adds hypoxen to its 2023 Monitoring Program – meaning the substance is not prohibited, but that WADA wishes to monitor to detect patterns of misuse in sport.Nov. 14, 2022An appeal is filed by WADA against RUSADA and Kamila Valieva for failure to decide on her positive doping sample. WADA is now seeking a four-year ban beginning from the date of her positive test, which would disqualify her from all competitions she performed in after Dec. 25, 2021.Jan. 13, 2023The state-run Russian news agency RIA Novosti reports that RUSADA’s disciplinary tribunal found Valieva bore “no fault or negligence” for her positive doping test. RUSADA decided that the only further action would be to disqualify her from the national championships that occurred on the day of the test.Feb. 21, 2023WADA and the ISU file appeals of RUSADA’s decision to CAS, both seeking a four-year suspension and disqualification. CAS says hearings will be held on the matter in September 2023.Sept. 26, 2023CAS hearings begin in Switzerland.Nov. 10, 2023Due to delays in the trial, CAS announces a verdict is expected by the end of January 2024.Jan. 29, 2024Over 700 days after the violation occurred, a verdict is announced that Valieva is disqualified for four years beginning from Dec. 25, 2021, invalidating her 2022 Olympic results and 2022 European Champion title.Jan. 30, 2024The ISU releases a statement regarding team event placements. The ISU chose to subtract the 20 points Valieva earned for ROC from the team’s total of 74 points, leaving them with 54 points and in third place. The ISU confirmed that Team USA would be receiving gold medals and Team Japan silver. The other ROC athletes will receive bronze medals without Valieva.Fourth-place team Canada is outraged by this decision, Skate Canada releases a statement saying the ISU failed to apply its own rules.What’s next?Although the final standings of the Olympic team event have finally been decided, there has not been any news regarding when and if a medal ceremony will be held. For now, Valieva’s verdict has been called, “A huge win for clean sport and massive loss for the Russian doping system,” by USA Today sports reporter Christine Brennan, who has been reporting on the case since its start.—CNN contributed to this report.