Russia is accused of 'abusing' Olympian who failed drugs test: Figure skating legend says 15-year-old’s coaches should be banned as IOC are blasted for letting Russia compete at all

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Athletes and anti-doping chiefs have today blasted Russia for 'abusing' a teenage figure skater after it was revealed she tested positive for a banned heart medication, calling for her trainers to be 'banned from sport forever'.

Kamila Valieva, 15, tested positive on February 8 - a day after taking gold in a team event - from a urine sample taken on December 25. She was cleared by Moscow's anti-doping agency to keep competing, but that decision is now being appealed. 

Travis Tygart, current head of the US Anti-Doping Agency, today spoke out to say Valieva is being 'abused by the Russian state system' and that 'this poor young woman deserves better'.

Katarina Witt, a two-time gold figure skater from Germany, went further - calling for any 'responsible adults' around Valieva to be kicked out of sport 'forever' while adding that her heart 'cries infinitely' for the teenager.

Meanwhile Rob Koehler, former head of the World Anti-Doping agency, hit out at the Olympics' governing bodies for failing to take harsher action against Moscow when a state-sponsored doping scheme was uncovered in 2016.

In the wake of the scandal Russia was officially banned from the Olympics, but was allowed to skirt the ban by sending athletes as part of the 'Russian Olympic Committee' under a neutral flag. 

'By not banning Russia for four years, there was no need or desire for cultural change by Russian authorities,' Koehler said.

'The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) favoured the power and influence of Russian sport over clean sport.'

Valieva, one of Russia's most-promising Winter Olympians, had carried hopes of multiple goal medals with her when she flew from her training base in Moscow to Beijing last week for the Games. 

Kamila Valieva, 15 (pictured in training today), tested positive for a banned medication on February 8 based on a sample collected during a contest in Russia at Christmas

 Valieva took gold in the figure skating team event on Monday, landing two quadruple jumps - the first woman to do so at the Olympics - and a difficult triple axle in the process (pictured)

She realised one of those hopes on Monday when she won gold in the team figure skating event - becoming the first woman at the Olympics to land a quadruple jump, a feat she repeated twice in the same routine.

But her future was thrown into doubt just a day later when a WADA lab in Sweden detected the presence of trimetazidine in her urine, a drug that increases blood flow to the heart and stabilises blood pressure that is usually used to treat angina.

The sample had been collected on December 25 during a Russian skating event in St Petersburg, but only tested on February 8. Questions are now being asked over why it took so long for the result to come back.

That result then triggered an automatic suspension by Russia's anti-doping agency RUSADA, which would have barred Valieva from the rest of the Olympics. But, just a day later, RUSADA overturned the decision when Valieva appealed. 

The IOC then stepped in and referred the case to CAS, which must now make a final call. Organisers are pressing judges to make a ruling before Valieva's next contest, which is due to take place on February 15.

The court will decide whether or not to reinstate the suspension. World skating authorities will decide whether or not the team gold medal will be allowed to stand, in a process that could take months to complete. 

A medal ceremony for the team skating event has yet to take place as a result of the positive test, and Tygart raised the possibility that Valieva's coaches could be sued under American laws introduced in the wake of the 2016 doping scandal.

Under those laws, prosecutors can seek fines of up to $1million and 10-year jail sentences against anyone deemed to have interfered with an American athlete's results due to doping.

The rules could apply in Valieva's case because she competed against an American team, which took silver. Japan took bronze. 

Despite the furore, the Kremlin has thrown its backing behind Valieva today - with Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov urging her to 'walk proudly, perform and win'.

Peskov said he is 'convinced' the positive test is the result of a 'misunderstanding', while urging everyone to wait for the outcome of the court case. 

'For now we all support Valieva and wish her good luck,' he said. 

The International Testing Agency, which is leading the Court of Arbitration appeal on behalf of the IOC, revealed on Friday that Valieva is at the heart of the case.

It said it took the decision after her named was leaked to the media. It had previously kept her identity hidden under anti-doping rules because she is a minor.  

Valieva took to the rink for practice on Friday, which Russian officials said went 'worse than usual' because she is in 'a bad mood' over the doping case.

Olga Yermolina, spokeswoman for the Russian Figure Skating Federation, said: 'She is nervous, which is understandable.

'She is not in an information vacuum [over the doping allegations]. 

'Proceedings may take several months, and the team medals will be awarded after the [hearing on her case]. Kamilla is in a bad mood.'

Yermolina even went so far as to suggest some kind of foul play by anti-doping authorities in revealing the positive result in the midst of competition.

'Do you know when the test was taken? Why do you think it was published right now, compare these dates and draw your own conclusions,' she said.

Katarina Witt, a two-time gold figure skater from Germany, has called for 'responsible adults' around Valieva to be banned from the sport for life

Travis Tygart (left), the head of the US Anti-Doping Agency, has accused the Russian state of 'abusing' Valieva while Rob Koehler (right), former head of the World Anti-Doping Agency, has slammed the IOC for even allowing Russia to compete

'I cannot comment directly and tell you clearly, but just compare the dates and you will understand what is at stake, why this is happening.'

Stanislav Pozdnyakov, president of the Russian Olympic Committee, added: 'I have serious questions about the time that passed between 25 December, when the sample was submitted in St Petersburg, and 8 February, when it was made public.

'According to the international standards for WADA laboratories, the deadline for uploading the A sample is 20 days from the receipt of the sample in the laboratory.

'The fact that it took almost a month to get from St Petersburg to Stockholm looks very strange.

'This raises very serious questions for me, and it looks very much like someone was holding the sample until after the figure skating team competition was over.’ 

A spokesperson for the International Testing Agency said: 'Under the World Anti-Doping Code, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), the International Skating Union (ISU), RUSADA and the IOC have a right to appeal the decision to lift the provisional suspension before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

'The IOC will exercise its right to appeal and not to wait for the reasoned decision by RUSADA, because a decision is needed before the next competition the athlete is due to take part (in Women Single Skating on 15 February).

'Following the delegation of the IOC’s anti-doping program in relation to the Olympic Games to the ITA, the ITA will lead the appeal before CAS on behalf of the IOC.' 

It remained unclear if Russia would still be awarded the gold meal as the ITA said the final decision would fall to the International Skating Union, the sport's governing body. 

The initial news of the doping scandal broke late Tuesday night in Beijing, where Valieva was part of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) ensemble that won the figure skating team event on Monday coming ahead of the United States and Japan.

The teenager delivered one of the highlights of the Beijing Games so far when she landed the first quadruple jumps by a woman in Olympic competition. She was one of four ROC skaters who did not appear at their practice sessions on Wednesday. 

According to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, TMZ can be used by athletes to improve their performance, especially in endurance sports. It has been on the World Anti-Doping Agency's (WADA) list of prohibited substances since January 2014.

Kamila Valieva is pictured on the rink eight years ago, aged eight, after her talent was picked up by the Russian government and she was brought to Moscow for training

Russia skating coaches said that even before Valieva was brought to Moscow to train (pictured) she had mastered some advanced skating tricks

Former Russian pairs skater Tatiana Volosozhar, who won two gold medals at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, offered words of support for Valieva on social media, calling for the use of the Russian hashtag #Iwillneverbelieve to send the teenager support.

Her post was 'liked' on Instagram by Valieva herself.

Prominent journalist Vasily Konov, deputy general producer at Russian sports channel Match-TV, said without citing sources that the sample in question had been taken two months ago.

'The drug trimetazidine does not help an athlete in any way. At all. It was found in one single sample in December. A minuscule amount. Nothing in her samples before or since,' he wrote on social media.

'There is no doping in the conventional sense. No! This cardiac drug has no impact on ... performance. Now leave Kamila in peace.'

Russia has acknowledged some shortcomings in its implementation of anti-doping rules but denies running a state-sponsored doping program.

Its athletes are competing at the Beijing Games without their flag and national anthem, because of sanctions against Russia for previous violations. 

The Russian figure skaters who won the team event at the Beijing Olympics on Monday have still not received their gold medals, with media reports on Wednesday saying one had returned a positive drug test. 

Under Olympic rules, performance-enhancing drugs attract a different penalty to those for recreational use. 

The International Olympic Committee had delayed the medal ceremony, which had been due to take place on Tuesday night, citing a 'legal issue'.

Earlier, the Inside The Games website had reported that the issue refers to a positive drugs test and said the international doping authorities were involved.  

But representatives for the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) have strongly denied any problems with drug tests on its skaters before Beijing.    

The IOC, International Skating Union and the international agency in charge of drugs testing during the Games all declined to comment on media reports that the delay was caused by a positive drug test.

The Russian Sports Ministry said it was premature to comment on media reports about the reason for the postponement. 

Valieva was part of the ROC team that won gold at the Winter Olympics on Monday, beating the US and Japan to the win in the figure skating team event

Gold medalists Kamila Valieva, Anastasia Mishina, Aleksandr Galliamov, Victoria Sanitsina, Nikita Katsalapov, Mark Kondratiuk of Team Russia celebrate during the Team Event flower ceremony

Questions were raised after four Russian skaters, including Valieva, did not attend training on Wednesday. 

The medal ceremony had initially been moved to Tuesday evening at 9pm local time from Monday before being postponed indefinitely. 

'A situation arose at short notice that requires legal consultation,' International Olympic Committee (IOC) spokesperson Mark Adams said.

'You can bet your bottom dollar we are doing everything that this situation can be resolved as soon as possible. I cannot give you any more details but we will do our utmost.'

Adams said the ceremony would take place as soon as possible. 

Valieva was one of the four ROC athletes, along with pairs dancers Anastasia Mishina and Aleksandr Galliamov, and Mark Kondratiuk, who did not appear at their practice sessions on Wednesday. It was unclear at the time why.

Kondratiuk also represented the ROC team and competed in Tuesday's individual short program. He advanced to the finals scheduled on Thursday.

In the competition, Valieva scored 178.92 points, taking the top prize in the women's free skate event, which closed the team competition.

Team ROC ended the team competition with a total of 74 points to take the gold. 

The ROC team featured women's singles skater Valieva, Mark Kondratyuk in the men's, Anastasia Mishina and Aleksandr Galliamov in the pairs, and Victoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapov in the ice dance.  

The only ROC skaters to train were team ice dancers Victoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapov.  

But Russian Figure Skating Federation spokesperson Olga Yermolina told the country's official state news agency TASS that the organization is 'waiting for official information on this issue'.  

The teenage prodigy (pictured at the Moscow event where her sample was taken) was automatically disqualified from further competition after the positive test, but was cleared to keep competing by Russian authorities

An urgent appeal has now been launched against the decision to allow Valieva to compete in Beijing, with her participation in next week's women's singles event now in doubt (pictured competing in Moscow last year) 

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), as part of a policy change last year, reduced its bans for recreational drugs so that athletes who test positive out of competition would be banned for one to three months instead of two years.

According to WADA, for a substance to be on its prohibited list it must meet any two of the following criteria: performance enhancement, danger to an athlete´s health, and a violation of the spirit of sport.

Calls to remove marijuana from WADA's list of in-competition banned substances have become more frequent, and many athletes and experts have openly advocated for legalization.

Tatyana Tarasova, one of Russia's most successful coaches and national figure skating team adviser, rejected claims that a problem with a drugs test had caused the problems. 

'This cannot be. They can nod at us, but we are all clean,' she said.    

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said earlier they would wait for official statements before commenting.

'As of now, we heard no official statements and let us judge based on them, because we are currently based on media reports only,' Peskov told a daily news briefing.

'We should either wait for explanations from sports officials, including our sports officials, or from the IOC.'

If any athlete and team were disqualified, an appeal would likely follow to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Canada placed fourth and would be in line to be upgraded. 

Technically, Russia is banned from competing in international sporting events until December 2022 over mass doping dating back to the 2014 Sochi Winter Games. 

But Russian athletes are still able to compete but only as neutral athletes or 'Olympic Athletes from Russia' (OAR) and represent the ROC to comply with those sanctions.

An initial punishment lasting for four years was imposed on Russia in 2020 by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), which saw them barred from events including the Tokyo Games and Paralympics as well as the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

The ban was then reduced to two years by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), a move which was greeted with a fierce backlash.

It was unanimously found by CAS that Russia had not been in compliance with anti-doping rules and regulations. 

Team USA figure skaters enjoyed the flower ceremony after winning the silver medal for the mixed team event

Bronze medalists from Japan during the victory ceremony for the figure skating mixed team competition during the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games on Monday 

The panel said it 'considered matters of proportionality and, in particular, the need to effect cultural change and encourage the next generation of Russian athletes to participate in clean international sport.'

The ruling means that the phrase 'neutral athlete' must be displayed prominently on uniforms where the word 'Russia' also appears. The period of the ban will end in December 2022. 

The International Skating Union (ISU) did not provide any details on the reason for the delay other than also citing 'legal consultations,' in an emailed response to Reuters.

There was no immediate comment from the Russian Olympic Committee or the International Testing Agency (ITA), which is in charge of doping controls during the Olympics.

Russia has been banned from competing as a country in athletics since 2015. They were initially declared non-compliant in November of that year after widespread corruption was alleged.

A report, which was commissioned by WADA and carried out by lawyer Professor Richard McLaren, pointed towards state-sponsored doping in track and field athletics.

Further findings from another report in 2016 stated that the doping program was operated across a four-year period, stretching across the 'vast majority' of sports at the summer and winter Olympics.

But, in 2018, the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) was reinstated as being compliant after the agency said they would release information from a Moscow-based laboratory taken from between January 2012 and August 2015.

It was discovered, however, that positive findings featuring in a version of the data previously provided by a whistleblower in 2017 were missing from the 2019 version of the files. Unsurprisingly, this triggered the beginning of a fresh inquiry.

An in-depth review was then carried out into the glaring inconsistencies and WADA's executive committee unanimously decided to hit Russia with the ban. 

After the decision was made, former WADA president Sir Craig Reedie highlighted the 'determination to act resolutely'.

'For too long, Russian doping has detracted from clean sport,' Reedie said. 'The blatant breach by the Russian authorities of RUSADA's reinstatement conditions demanded a robust response. This is exactly what has been delivered.

'Russia was afforded every opportunity to get its house in order and re-join the global anti-doping community for the good of its athletes and of the integrity of sport, but it chose instead to continue in its stance of deception and denial.'