Kamila Valieva: Russian figure skater qualifies for free skate at Winter Olympics in gold medal position - despite failed drugs test
The Court of Arbitration for Sport cited exceptional circumstances in allowing Valieva to continue competing at the Beijing Winter Olympics against the wishes of the International Olympic Committee.
Tuesday 15 February 2022 19:33, UK
Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva has qualified for the free skating event on Thursday in the top position - after she was cleared to compete despite revelations the 15-year-old failed a drugs test.
Valieva finished the preliminary round with a leading score of 82.16, ahead of fellow Russian Anna Shcherbakova, who recorded 80.20, while Japan's Kaori Sakamoto held the third position with 79.87.
This was despite a noticeable mistake in one of Valieva's jumps which left her in tears at the end of her performance.
She and another 24 athletes are through to the free skating event which will conclude on Thursday.
Valieva was cleared to compete on Monday - a decision that was contested by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) but overruled by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
A sample from the 15-year-old was taken on Christmas Day - and on 8 February, it returned positive for trimetazidine, a heart medication.
Valieva blames contaminated glass with grandfather's medication
Kamila Valieva's legal team claimed that her positive drugs test may have come from a contaminated glass of water that contained traces of her grandfather's heart medication.
"Her argument was this contamination happened with a product her grandfather was taking," the IOC's Denis Oswald told reporters.
Russian newspaper Pravda reported that Valieva's lawyer, Anna Kozmenko, said: "There can be completely different ways how it got into her body.
"For example, her grandfather drank something from a glass, saliva got in, this glass was somehow later used by an athlete.
"Or the drug lay down on some surface, traces remained, the drug lay down on this surface, which the athlete then drank."
Valieva won't receive her medal if she finishes in top three on Thursday
An investigation led by the Russian Anti-Doping Agency is under way, which will determine whether Valieva can receive the gold she won in the team event more than a week ago - and any further awards she picks up.
The World Anti-Doping Agency will be able to appeal any decision made.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has already decided there will be no medal or flower ceremony if she finishes in the top three of the final competition of the singles event "in the interest of fairness".
Once the doping case has been concluded, the awards will be presented retrospectively.
'Difficult days for me'
Valieva told Russian state broadcaster Channel One last night: "These days have been very difficult for me. I'm happy but I'm tired emotionally."
She said she watched her entire Olympic hearing by video link, which lasted seven hours and finished at 3am on Monday.
"It was very difficult, but it is apparently one of the moments, of the phases, that I have to go through," Valieva said, adding that the entire process had taught her that adult life "can be unfair to some extent".