Kamila Valieva: Anti-doping Case and Follow-ups

[Mathman]

The age of taking something just because your coach told you to should be over at this point I hope.

Quite so. Still. I would not want to be in the position of a young aspiring athlete in an elite program who is presented with no other options than either to knuckle under or to stand up and tell the famous coach or powerful sports.official to go to hell and thus to say goodby to her career. It seems like there must be some sort of middle path.

 

[Magill]

Quite so. Still. I would not want to be in the position of a young aspiring athlete in an elite program who is presented with no other options than either to knuckle under or to stand up and tell the famous coach or powerful sports.official to go to hell and thus to say goodby to her career. It seems like there must be some sort of middle path.

Simple. In a case like this, when a minor is caught doping, their coaching team should be banned along with the athlete as this is difficult to imagine a child doping without their team involved or negligent.

 

[NaVi]

Apparently the appeal to the Swiss Court hasn't been resolved yet. Kamila can train in a group again starting October 25th and can compete starting December 25th.

The report said: "Nevertheless, to my knowledge, up to now i has never been documented scientifically that Trimetazidine was found in a supplement and that intake was he source of an AAF for TMZ."

He's talking about scientific studies rather than cases CAS and WADA accepted. But there have been at least 2 instances before(A swimmer and bobsledder IIRC) and 2 instances after the report was written of tainted supplements that were successfully blamed for positive TMZ tests. The recent cases are both from women's tennis players: Iga Swiatek with melatonin and Nikola Bartunkova for a B and E vitamin that also had "milk thistle" in it.

Something bizarre is happening in tennis because yet another tennis player named Frederico Ferreira Silva tested for TMZ for a prescription drug that he claims and ITIA accepts as being tainted. The drug was Daflon and there was even a recall notice (though for a different but related product)

For 3 out of 3 of the resolved TMZ cases involving tennis players, ITIA has given out reduced suspensions because of the claim of tainted supplements. It seems like all the drugs were manufactured at different facilities. I'm not watching that closely, but I've not seen anything like this in TMZ cases in other sports. There is another TMZ tennis case to watch as an Indian tennis player named Parikshit Somani tested positive for it and has been provisionally suspended.

 

[Skating91]

Apparently the appeal to the Swiss Court hasn't been resolved yet. Kamila can train in a group again starting October 25th and can compete starting December 25th.



Something bizarre is happening in tennis because yet another tennis player named Frederico Ferreira Silva tested for TMZ for a prescription drug that he claims and ITIA accepts as being tainted. The drug was Daflon and there was even a recall notice (though for a different but related product)

For 3 out of 3 of the resolved TMZ cases involving tennis players, ITIA has given out reduced suspensions because of the claim of tainted supplements. It seems like all the drugs were manufactured at different facilities. I'm not watching that closely, but I've not seen anything like this in TMZ cases in other sports. There is another TMZ tennis case to watch as an Indian tennis player named Parikshit Somani tested positive for it and has been provisionally suspended.

I don't think anyone trying to cheat would do it with something that doctors and sports scientists are even sure provides an advantage but potentially means ending your career and losing everything if caught. Kami was wrong place, wrong circumstances, etc.

No tennis player is taking this old person's medication that costs pennies, developed in the 70's, seemingly undiscovered until 2015, to gain an advantage worth risking their entire career and reputation.

Anyway, Kamila whether the worst person in the world and as a 15 year old child pumped herself full of something that many doctors don't think provides an advantage, or just caught up in some kind of contamination with something else she took (or sabotaged by a jealous person), she has paid the price, she has served her punishment, so she should be welcomed back with open arms.

 

[TallyT]

I don't think anyone trying to cheat would do it with something that doctors and sports scientists are even sure provides an advantage but potentially means ending your career and losing everything if caught. Kami was wrong place, wrong circumstances, etc.

No tennis player is taking this old person's medication that costs pennies, developed in the 70's, seemingly undiscovered until 2015, to gain an advantage worth risking their entire career and reputation.

Anyway, Kamila whether the worst person in the world and as a 15 year old child pumped herself full of something that many doctors don't think provides an advantage, or just caught up in some kind of contamination with something else she took (or sabotaged by a jealous person), she has paid the price, she has served her punishment, so she should be welcomed back with open arms.

Of course she can certainly return to competition just as anyone who has served any ban or suspension, long or short, does and presumably if she intends to try for international competition, we will see her in the first year the Russians are readmitted. No one is required to welcome her (some, especially her countryfolk, will of course), and open arms are no more necessary than for anyone else.

And as with any legal matter, what other wrongdoers received is only partially relevant (as to the minimum and maximums applicable). The tennis players obviously presumably put up a better and more believable defence than Valieva's people, not that that would be hard...

 

[Skating91]

Of course she can certainly return to competition just as anyone who has served any ban or suspension, long or short, does and presumably if she intends to try for international competition, we will see her in the first year the Russians are readmitted. No one is required to welcome her (some, especially her countryfolk, will of course), and open arms are no more necessary than for anyone else.

And as with any legal matter, what other wrongdoers received is only partially relevant (as to the minimum and maximums applicable). The tennis players obviously presumably put up a better and more believable defence than Valieva's people, not that that would be hard...

CAS themselves found Kamila to be honest and trustworthy in her testimony. Unfortunately for the 15 year old Kamila, WADA publicly pursued the maximum punishment with all their vigour (rather than voluntarily choose to reach a lenient 3 month punishment served grand slam tournaments as with a tennis player and conduct all of this in secret), so there was nothing CAS could do to lessen the punishment.

 

[Mathman]

Swiss court has rejected her "final appeal."

Russian skater loses final appeal in doping case

Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva lost her last appeal on Thursday in a doping case that rocked the 2022 Beijing Olympics.

www.espn.com

Her suspension was due to expire next month anyway. She has to pay court costs and a "fine" to WADA and to the ISU. I wonder what authority the courts have to collect these fines if Kamila simply thells them the check is in the mail and goes on with her life in Russia.

At least the court made an effort to decide the case on its merits rather than on merely procedural grounds. They apparently rejected the "grandfather" defense.as "implausible."

 

[Skating91]

Swiss court has rejected her "final appeal."

Russian skater loses final appeal in doping case

Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva lost her last appeal on Thursday in a doping case that rocked the 2022 Beijing Olympics.

www.espn.com

Her suspension was due to expire next month anyway. She has to pay court costs and a "fine" to WADA and to the ISU. I wonder what authority the courts have to collect these fines if Kamila simply thells them the check is in the mail and goes on with her life in Russia.

At least the court made an effort to decide the case on its merits rather than on merely procedural grounds. They apparently rejected the "grandfather" defense.as "implausible."

How would she even transfer the money or the medals to the ISU?

The ISU can't even figure out how to transfer the team event bronze medals to the ROC team due to sanctions, so how would anyone expect a 19 year old figure skater to transfer a huge sum of money from a sanctioned country no longer part of the international banking system if a well resourced and connected organisation like the ISU can't figure out send something by courier.

There's no reason to send the medals back they are junk now, and they'll mint new medals as they always do because no-one wants something tarnished.

No, the court didn't decide the case, they didn't reject the grandfather theory, which was one of three initially put forward but everyone got hung up about this grandfather theory (and it was just a theory). Valieva's team argument was based on an AP article where they claimed procedural fraud (WADA definitely didn't want the world to consider alternative theories in my opinion). The Swiss Court was only looking at the report itself from WADA which said that voluntarily use was still most likely but contamination also possible. They ruled the report to be inconclusive as well.

 

[saine]

The ISU statement on the decision:

Inside ISU

Corporate Home - International Skating Union

www.isu.org

Since the appeal was rejected, the 2022 European medals will now be reallocated.

 

[4everchan]

The ISU statement on the decision:

Inside ISU

Corporate Home - International Skating Union

www.isu.org

Since the appeal was rejected, the 2022 European medals will now be reallocated.

Too bad they didn't reallocate all the medals they should have reallocated.

 

[lariko]

The ISU statement on the decision:

Inside ISU

Corporate Home - International Skating Union

www.isu.org

Since the appeal was rejected, the 2022 European medals will now be reallocated.

So, Tscherbakova, Trusova, Hendrickx is correct medalists now?

 

[saine]

So, Tscherbakova, Trusova, Hendrickx is correct medalists now?

Yes, and it should also be a small medal to Kurakova.

 

[lariko]

Yes, and it should also be a small medal to Kurakova.

Congrats to Kurakova as well.

 

[TallyT]

It is conceivable that if she does not return the medals (and prize money, which should be reallocated after all) and pray the fines, her path to international competition will be difficult if not blocked.

Or the ISU may decide to let it go and just reimburse the prize difference out of pocket (at least to Hendrickx, given what is said above about money transfers involving Russia. I mean, would the other two even have international bank accounts?) I really hope they pay Hendrickx her prize money as soon as possible in any case, I have read that she has struggled for finding at times.

 

[LazyFuzai]

It's crazy we wait 3 years for such an obvious decision...

 

[NewLook]

I would agree to wait even longer to find out the truth.

 

[Kittosuni]

It’s official, Kamila’s ban is over.

 

[Skating91]

It doesn't seem like she's going to return is she?