‘Really sucks’ – Athlete group pushing for coach and parent punishments amid Kamila Valieva doping storm

ByBen Snowball

Updated 15/02/2022 at 09:41 GMT

The Kamila Valieva doping saga has become the dominant narrative of Beijing 2022 after she tested positive for trimetazidine. The 15-year-old will compete in the figure skating singles, which start later on Tuesday, but it has prompted a fierce backlash. Valieva helped ROC to gold in the team event earlier in the Games and became the first woman to land a quad at an Olympics.

A member of the IOC Athletes’ Commission says it is pushing for coaches and parents to be “punished more severely” when their athlete is convicted of doping.

Former Olympic fencing champion Britta Heidemann spoke to Eurosport in the wake of 15-year-old Kamila Valieva’s positive test for trimetazidine, a banned heart drug.

Valieva was cleared to compete in the women’s singles by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Monday after her provisional suspension was lifted by the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA).

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She has claimed the positive test was due to a mix up with her grandfather’s heart medication. Her B sample is yet to be analysed.

Questions have been raised about those around Valieva given she is a minor. The IOC Athletes’ Commission – and its offshoot IOC Athletes’ Entourage Commission – aims to empower the people around an athlete, effectively sharing responsibility around an athlete’s team.

• Valieva ‘happy but tired emotionally’ after being cleared to compete
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• When is Valieva skating? Olympic singles schedule after Russian is cleared to compete

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“It really sucks that the doping cases keep going. We had that once in fencing too,” Heidemann told Eurosport.

“In terms of the process, the A sample is positive, but there is still the B sample that needs to be analysed as part of the fair process.

“The CAS decision has been made. But it's getting annoying to bring up similar cases over and over again.

“In the IOC Athletes' Commission we are trying to ensure that the entourage of coaches and parents is punished much more severely.

“The system cannot be improved if the entire environment around the athletes does not learn. This is also very often about minors who are introduced there.“

Valieva will be one of the favourites for gold when she begins her singles campaign on Tuesday.

She helped ROC to gold in the team event after winning the short programme and free skate, making history as she became the first woman to land a quad in Olympic competition.

Tearful Valieva pulls to side after fall during figure skating training

However, the IOC has announced the medal ceremony for the team event will not take place until the Valieva doping storm is resolved – and will also postpone the individual ceremony if the Russian places in the top three.

“We discussed this very emotionally within our commission because the omission of an award ceremony is a blatant judgement,” added Heidemann.

“My interpretation is that the IOC at least wants to show that something like this is going a step too far.

“But it's always at the expense of other athletes who start clean and are robbed of moments. That's the end of the song."

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