Kamila Valieva continues training, WADA to investigate figure skater’s entourage after IOC request
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Updated 13/02/2022 at 07:19 GMT
The Court of Arbitration for Sport's hearing is set to start at 12.30pm GMT on Sunday, and it will determine whether Kamila Valieva is able to compete in the women’s individual figure skating at Beijing 2022 after the 15-year-old Russian failed a drugs test in December. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) will investigate her entourage, which includes coach Eteri Tutberidze.
Tearful Valieva pulls to side after fall during figure skating training
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has said it will investigate Kamila Valieva’s entourage after a request from the International Olympic Committee (IOC), as the Russian figure skater waits to discover whether she can compete in Tuesday’s individual event at Beijing 2022.
Valieva, 15, continued to train on Sunday ahead of the Court of Arbitration for Sport's (CAS) hearing, which will determine her fate at the Winter Olympics after she tested positive for a banned substance in December.
The outcome of that result is expected on Monday, with the Russian Olympic Committee also set to be stripped of the team event gold if Valieva’s suspension is upheld.
The saga has arguably been the biggest story of these Games so far, and the spotlight has also shone on Valieva’s team.
Her coach Eteri Tutberidze told Russian state television that the athlete was "clean and innocent", but the entourage is set to be investigated by WADA after Valieva tested positive for trimetazidine at the Russian Figure Skating Championships on Christmas Day.
“This is a constantly moving target, and we are continuing to work on this,” IOC spokesman Mark Adams told a news conference on Sunday.
“We have an entourage commission...we want WADA to investigate the entourage in this case. A whole range of things have been done.
“Our response continues to improve and address entourage issues.”
And according to Reuters: "The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) said in a statement to Reuters on Sunday that it would ask its independent Intelligence and Investigations Department to probe the coaches, doctors and other adults surrounding the athlete."
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ROC figure skater Kamila Valieva talks to coach Eteri Tutberidze , choreographer Daniil Gleikhengauz, and coach Sergei Dudakov (L-R)
Image credit: Getty Images
Asked if there was mental health support in place for Valieva, Adams added: “Mental health support is always firstly offered by the teams, and a lot of them have that in place.
“We also have a number of measures in place too, a number of safeguarding officers and so on. The support is there, but the primary obligation is for the teams to look after their athlete.
“There are 65 athlete welfare officers working in the village here. Each of the NOCs can ask for chaperones for any of their underage athletes. The information and support is there, but as I say it’s for each team to support their people.”
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‘Perfect!’ – 15-year-old Valieva makes history for second day in a row at Olympics
While the timeline is relatively clear in terms of the CAS hearing and subsequent result, Adams stressed the process has been quick despite rumbling on for a number of days.
He said: “We want this to be expedited as quickly as possible, we made that very clear. This is why it’s going to CAS this evening, and why we’ll have a result tomorrow.
“In all parts of the world justice does run quite slowly, but this is actually quite quick for CAS and justice in general. We want to see a quick resolution.”
Meanwhile, Olympic Games executive director Christophe Dubi said it was important to remember the human element of this story.
“The Games are the Games, wherever you go and wherever they take place you are bound to have a number of issues that surface,” Dubi said.
“It’s incredibly important we keep the human side of this story, think about a person of 15 years old being in this situation. We have to treat this situation very carefully, there is a process ongoing, there will be a result and there will be a competition on the 15th.
“Throughout the Games you’re bound to have cases like this one, you’re bound to have bad weather, this is what happens.”
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