World Anti-Doping Agency seeks 4-year ban for Russian Olympic skater Kamila Valieva
- WADA is seeking a 4-year ban for the Russian figure skater, which could rule her out of the next Winter Olympics in 2026
- Medals for the event still have not been awarded and will not be until Valiyeva’s case is adjudicated
The Court of Arbitration for Sport’s Monday announcement that the World Anti-Doping Agency is seeking a four-year ban of Russian Olympic figure skater Kamila Valieva does not mean the months-long doping saga is going to end soon.
“Unless WADA expedites the case, which it certainly could do, this could take awhile even though it’s a pretty straightforward case,” US Anti-Doping Agency CEO Travis Tygart said.
“Under normal CAS process, it easily could be the end of 2023. Since it seems that the Russian strategy is to delay and avoid, if that continues at CAS, this easily could be another nine to 18 months.”
Last week, Tygart proposed that the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic athletes who still have not received their medals due to excruciating Russian delays in the Valieva case finally could be celebrated with a medal ceremony at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, possibly at the opening ceremony.
While that is only a suggestion, the idea was met very positively by several people within the international Olympic community, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the subjective and uncertain nature of the matter.
Nine months ago at the Beijing Games, Russia won the gold medal, the United States won the silver medal and Japan won the bronze in the team figure skating competition.
