Witold Bańka, the president of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), announced that the agency has referred the doping case of Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Bańka stated via the agency's Twitter page on Tuesday that despite the Russian Anti-Doping Agency's official notification to resolve Valieva's case, no progress has been made. He noted, "Because of that, I can confirm that WADA has referred the case directly to the Court of Arbitration for Sport."
Valieva made headlines during the team competitions at the Winter Olympics hosted in Beijing last year when she successfully executed a quad jump for the first time in Olympic history during her free skating program. Her outstanding performance earned her first place in the free skate, leading the Russian team to win the gold medal in figure skating at the Beijing Olympics.
After her historic achievement, the International Testing Agency (ITA) announced the detection of the banned substance "trimetazidine" in one of Valieva’s samples collected by the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) on December 25, 2021. The International Skating Union, WADA, and the International Olympic Committee called for Valieva's suspension and exclusion from the Beijing Olympics, but the Court of Arbitration for Sport did not respond to these requests and allowed the Russian champion to continue her participation in the Beijing Olympics.
It is noteworthy that the 16-year-old Russian ice skater is the 2020 Junior World Champion, the 2019 Junior Grand Prix Final Champion, and the 2021 Russian National Silver Medalist.
