Kamila Valieva: Anti-doping Case and Follow-ups | Page 39 | Golden Skate

Kamila Valieva: Anti-doping Case and Follow-ups

I have my doubts that was the actual reason why.

Based on the statement of the ROC this is the only positive test she's had, I didn't see it mentioned that sample B from the 12/25 date has been tested. But given that all the Beijing doping tests have come back clean and there have been no other tests that have been flagged (my understanding is that every medalist at international competitions are tested, someone correct me if I'm wrong) that does probably give them a case that there might be something accidental with the positive test. Granted given the country she comes from and their history, she might not get the benefit of the doubt, but is there a case to be made and won that given it was the only test that's come back positive and the Beijing test(s) have been clean should Valieva receive a punishment but the punishment not impact the Team results that punishes the other Russian athletes that tested clean - the counter to that is going to be the fairness to the non-Russian skaters.

Its a hot mess, that likely would have been addressed prior to the Olympics, from the latest post on this thread this is another way that covid is screwing up the Olympics.
 
I read somewhere that the minimum suspension periods for minors are shorter--two months, as I recall.

is it 2 months suspension from the day of the test?
and I'm assuming results in the period of more than 2 months might be revoked
 
A little more about trimetazidine:

"Dr Sadiya Khan, a cardiologist and assistant professor at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, told Reuters news agency that in theory trimetazidine might be used in a healthy person to enhance blood flow above and beyond normal levels.

“The idea behind it would be, potentially, if you enhance blood flow, you could improve somebody’s ability to exercise longer or exercise more efficiently by allowing the heart to respond super-normally,” she said.

But she said it is not clear if the drug offers any performance-enhancing benefit.

“There’s a theoretical benefit,” she said. “There’s no strong evidence that it does make a difference.”
Doesn't mean that was not the intention to use it (whether it works or no)
 
Kamila has an advantage and that advantage is that she is flat out better than her competitors. It’s that simple.

You can drug up all her competitors to high heaven and it won’t miraculously make them jump quads. That happens through hard work, good genetics and good coaching.

That’s the thing about these doping stories. People start to believe that drugs make an athlete.

You can pump me full of any drugs but I’ll never be a top athlete.

This is not addressed to Kamila, because she did nothing wrong, but to the general adult athlete: We like watching professional sports (at least I do), and watch people do amazing things. In some sports, it can’t be possible to be 100% all the time because they are still human bodies. So, I have no problem looking the other way when athletes take steps to maintain their excellence.

If we want to watch amateurs doing this, that’s one thing, but if you want to watch footballers running for 90 minutes, or tennis players at 35 having more stamina than they did at 20, or cyclists pedaling well for 3 weeks straight, then we have to let them do what they have to do.

Sorry, but I am not against drugs in pro sports. Not will I condemn such athletes.


If you look at the East German swimmers (which was an EXTREMELY sad story, they were pumped full of steroids unknowingly, have suffered lifelong health problems and some have died very prematurely). They weren't just pumped full of steroids. They were massive amounts of steroids. Athletes also have the right to know what they're being given. I dated a guy who played football at OU in the 80s. They were given shots of "vitamins" that turned out to be steroids and many of them have died prematurely as well.


Some things I really don't care about, like if they have been smoking weed, which is not performance enhancing. But WADA didn't ask my opinion. Performance enhancing drugs are cheating, and I'm against cheating.

The point is not if you can get off the couch and be a top athlete. The point is someone who is ALMOST there can get there with PED. See Ben Johnson.
 
is it 2 months suspension from the day of the test?
and I'm assuming results in the period of more than 2 months might be revoked
No, it would be two months after a full hearing. That would happen sometime in the future--after the Olympics. In the meantime, the athlete might be provisionally suspended, or not. That is what the CAS is going to decide in Kamila's case.
 
is it 2 months suspension from the day of the test?
and I'm assuming results in the period of more than 2 months might be revoked
Yes, it can be from the day of that exact test if later test are negative, like the situation is in this case. Also I know that some athletes, Chinese swimmer served only 3 months suspension, and USA swimmer only 6 months for the same substance they founded in Kamila's sample. So suspension, if happens, can be even lower for the minors.
 
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If the speculation is true of the person and substance that is rumored, would COVID be an appropriate medical reason for limited use of this as a cardioprotective medication, e.g., for arrhythmia? Could that case perhaps be made? Did Valieva have COVID at one point? All speculative, and of course this medical information is a private matter, but these are unusual times and circumstances.
If so, there SHOULD have been an exemption filed.
 
Wait, so Russia did not know the results of the Dec. 25th test until Feb 8?

I also had a misunderstanding there, I thought there were results on the 25th and on the 8th,
but apparently Russia has only been made aware of this on the 8th, which does make me wonder
about their internal testing process, if there even is one.
 
No, it would be two months after a full hearing. That would happen sometime in the future--after the Olympics. In the meantime, the athlete might be provisionally suspended, or not. That is what the CAS is going to decide in Kamila's case.

And as far as results from the time leading up the test and following it, prior to the hearing,
what are usually the decisions?
 
The timing is definitely the worst. But if there was tampering/mishandling of her sample/contamination/nefarious plan against Kamila, this is something her team should definitely be on top of. Two months before the Olympics, her being the top athlete of the sport, the best in her country and the world. I have this feeling they might have been overconfident.
 
Actually, these articles don't list if the samples taken were out of competition or not. But they list Zagitova as being checked once in 2021 when she was not competing.

2019: https://www.sports.ru/figure-skating/1079234393.html
2020: https://www.sports.ru/figure-skatin...uemoj-rusada-figuristkoj-po-itogam-2020-.html
2021: https://www.sports.ru/figure-skatin...i-samymi-testiruemymi-rusada-figuristami.html

Valieva actually looks to be the least tested of the Tutberidze skaters. Shcherbakova has been the most tested.

If an athlete was previously on a WADA doping control list and they retire from the sport and then later decide to return to elite competition, they must be back in the testing pool for something like 18 months before they're allowed o compete in an elite international event again. So you'll sometimes hear of athletes say 'My retirement is official; I turned in my WADA paperwork to go off the anti-doping lists'. So Zagitova probably stayed on the list because she wasn't 100% sure of retirement yet.

Because figure skating is not seen as having a doping issue, there is often not a ton of out of competition testing compared to something like athletics or swimming. USADA says they tested Nathan Chen 3 times in 2021 and one of those was probably from Nationals while an elite sprint runner can expect a 'knock on the door' monthly.

As for WADA and their testing, the budget they have can cover testing at major international events but not really much beyond that so they rely on national level anti-doping agencies to police clean sport at the national and sub-national level. It hasn't worked particularly well for the past fifty or so years but not enough countries are willing to pay what would be pretty high prices (Have you priced plane tickets from Switzerland to Magadon or Samoa or St. Helena?) to have them cover a comprehensive national level program in 160+ countries.
 
You do realise that a lot of these banned substances are not just performance enhancing, but full-on dangerous? Steroid abuse can kill you, it certainly destroys your body.

Having such a laissez faire attitude to doping is totally messed up, especially if the person given drugs is a kid.

Using this medication when your heart is perfectly healthy could have side effects in years to come.

This is sport not Gladiatoral combat where the loser dies, or at least it shouldn't be.
Correct. Again the article I linked, those athletes are dying of cancer at young ages and suffered from many side effects even giving birth to children with severe birth defects. It is terrible. No medal is worth all that.
 
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