Kamila Valieva’s Strawberry Dessert Defense Fails to Prevent Doping Ban

Kamila Valieva was given a four-year ban by the World Sports Court after they dismissed her argument that her grandfather’s cardiac medication may have caused a positive test.

Delve into the doping scandal that rocked the world of figure skating as Kamila Valieva’s defense involving a strawberry dessert fails to sway the World Sports Court. Learn about the implications of her four-year ban and the ongoing controversy surrounding her case.

Could Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva’s disintegrating career be related to a strawberry dessert?

The highest court in sports ruled that it was unlikely, rejecting her lawyers’ argument that her grandfather’s use of a chopping board to prepare the dish—which he also used to crush his heart medication—may have contributed to a positive doping test.

Last Monday, Valieva, a teenage sensation whose case overshadowed the Beijing Olympics in 2022, received a four-year suspension. The complete 129-page decision that the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) posted online on Wednesday disclosed her attempts to appeal the decision.

The records outlining the reasons the three-person panel rejected her answer contain forty-three references to the purported strawberry dessert.

According to the records, Valieva’s attorneys argue that inadvertent contamination may have led to the presence of trimetazidine (TMZ), a prohibited medication, in her system.

The argument put out is that her grandfather may have crushed a pill of TMZ, which he supposedly takes for a heart ailment, with the chopping board, and that the residue may have found its way into a strawberry pie he prepared for Valieva prior to the Russian national tournament in late 2021. Months after the 15-year-old phenomenon helped the Russians win team gold at the Winter Games ahead of the United States, the results of her positive test during the tournament remained a secret.

The information comes after the World Anti-Doping Agency’s appeal, which requested the four-year sentence after a Russian panel essentially exonerated her, was upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) last month. A Russian courtroom sentenced Valieva to a minimal term of imprisonment. According to CAS, TMZ is a restricted substance whose use in sports is strictly prohibited since it may improve heart function.

The court said Valieva did not contest that the substance was in her system, but sought to offer an explanation that would exonerate her or shorten a potential ban.

The filings made public on Wednesday provide additional insight into the manner in which Valieva’s attorneys argued in court. Among the points raised was the assertion that Valieva’s grandfather began using TMZ in 2018 and continued to do so in December 2021, the month in which she tested positive for the drug. However, the court ruled that his own statement was the only proof offered in favor of the strawberry dessert idea, and that there was no further proof he was taking the drug.

As such, the court ruled that while it found Valieva to be “an honest, straightforward and credible witness,” her explanation was “not corroborated by any concrete evidence” and she was therefore not able to establish that she had not committed the doping violation intentionally.

The decision stated, “The panel could not have determined that her account is more likely than not because there are too many flaws in the evidence and too many unsolved questions.”

Considered one of the greatest skaters in decades, Valieva was a heavy favorite to win the gold medal in figure skating alone at the Olympics in Beijing.

Her December 2021 sample results from a lab in Sweden were delayed, and it was not until halfway through her individual competition schedule in China that she received word that she had tested positive. She had already taken home the gold in the team competition against the Russians by then.

Since Valieva’s situation captured the attention of the media, the medals were never given out.

She was permitted to continue competing in the individual event, but she performed significantly below expectations and finished fourth with a free skate filled with errors under close observation.

Nearly two years after the tournament, the Russian team that won gold in the team event was also disqualified by the International Skating Union due to the CAS ruling on Valieva last month. When her score was subtracted from the team’s total, the Russians dropped to the bronze medal position. The gold was awarded to Team USA, who finished in second place.

The Russian Olympic Committee declared that it will appeal the ruling through legal counsel.

The Russian committee questioned why the skater’s positive sample, which was gathered many months before the Olympics, was only released in Beijing following the Russian team’s gold medal win and attacked the decision to ban Valieva. The ruling, according to the statement, “has declared war on Russian sport.”

In an Instagram statement, Eteri Tutberidze, Valieva’s coach, stated that all of her athletes “were and remain clean” and that she was still unsure of what had occurred to Valieva.

Valieva’s exclusion was denounced by the Kremlin as “politically motivated.”

She thanked her supporters online following the CAS’s decision to ban her, but she hasn’t publicly acknowledged the specifics of her doping case.

Because of her youth, Valieva has received a lot of support in Russia from the start of the drama. In a nation where figure skating is one of the most popular sports and Russian skaters have long seen as dominant on the ice, the decision to ban her for four years incited fresh outrage from the public.

Conclusion

The doping ban imposed on Kamila Valieva marks a significant setback in her promising career and has stirred controversy in the world of figure skating. As the debate over her case continues, it underscores the complexities and challenges of ensuring fairness and integrity in sports. The repercussions of this ruling extend beyond Valieva herself, raising questions about athlete accountability and the effectiveness of anti-doping measures.