CAS sets date for appeals over Valieva doping exoneration

The Court of Arbitration for Sport on Thursday set a date for hearing appeals that followed the exoneration of Russian figure skating prodigy Kamila Valieva for a positive dope test.

CAS announced it would hear the case behind closed doors in Lausanne on September 26-29.

At the Winter Games in Beijing in February 2022, Valieva, then 15, became the first female skater to land a quadruple jump in Olympic competition, helping the Russian team secure gold in the team event.

Valieva was told the following day that she had tested positive before the Games for trimetazidine, a drug used to treat angina but which is banned for athletes because it can boost endurance.

The test was on a urine sample taken on December 25, 2021, at the Russian National Figure Skating Championships.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) allowed her to compete in the individual final in Beijing citing her youth. Her subsequent tearful meltdown on the ice in the women’s individual event became the biggest story of the Games.

The IOC did not award medals for the team event, pending the results of the investigation into the Valieva case.

On December 14, 2022, the disciplinary committee of Russia’s anti-doping agency (RUSADA) found that Valieva bore “no fault or negligence” for the positive test and opted not to punish her, instead cancelling the results of the test.

CAS said on Thursday that it had received appeals from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the International Skating Union (ISU) and RUSADA itself against the ruling. 

WADA and the ISU both want the ruling overturned and are asking for Vali