'Easier to start with a positive dope test than a positive covid test’ - heartbroken Natalia Maliszewska

Published 16/02/2022 at 14:57 GMT

Polish short track speed skater Natalia Maliszewska, who missed out on competing at the Winter Olympics after a rollercoaster ordeal with Covid testing, has claimed it is “easier to start with a positive dope test than a positive covid test”. The former world silver medallist appeared to be taking aim at the decision to let figure skater Kamila Valieva compete at the Games.

Natalia Maliszewska missed out on competing in her favoured 500m after a Covid ordeal at the Winter Olympics

Image credit: Getty Images

Poland’s former short track world silver medallist Natalia Maliszewska appears to have voiced her frustration at the Kamila Valieva doping scandal, criticising the decision to let someone who has tested positive for a banned substance compete at the Winter Olympics when she missed out following a topsy-turvy Covid ordeal.

The 26-year-old, a 500m specialist, tested positive for coronavirus before the Games, but was then given a reprieve when she was surprisingly released from isolation in Beijing.

But Maliszewska tested positive again and missed out on the qualification round for the 500m, before she returned to take part in the 1000m, 1500m and relay.

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She appeared to doubt all of the test results and in a post on social media, she revealed the mental effect it had on her.

"I have been living in fear for over a week... and these mood swings, the crying that takes my breath away, make it not only the people around me worry about me but myself alone.

"I don't understand it either. I don't believe in anything anymore. In no tests. No games. It's a big joke for me. My heart can't take it anymore."

Maliszewska was able to compete at the Olympics in Beijing, but she has not let the rollercoaster situation go.

Speaking to Eurosport Poland, she appeared to take aim at the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s decision to let Valieva compete in figure skating, after it emerged she tested positive for a banned substance in December.

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The 15-year-old Russian - who has not been cleared of the offence - is able to take part because of complexities relating to her age, and the fact she received the test result two months later and less than 48 hours after helping the Russian Olympic Committee win team gold.

“The last few days have shown me, and this is a funny example, that it is easier to start and fight for a medal with a positive doping control result than with a positive coronavirus test result,” she told Eurosport.

While Maliszewska will return home from the Games without a medal from her favoured event, Valieva leads the singles figure skating competition heading into tomorrow’s free skate.

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