Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva handed four-year ban for doping alongside ‘disqualification of all competitive results achieved’ since December 2021

Russian teenage figure skater Kamila Valieva has been handed a four-year ban for doping, with her results from the 2022 Winter Olympics now officially annulled.

Valieva was just 15 when she helped Russia win the team competition at the Beijing Games two years ago, where she became the first woman in Olympic history to do a quadruple jump.

However, just hours later it emerged that she had tested positive for the banned heart drug trimetazidine (TMZ) in December 2021, and no medals were handed out.

After a legal battle, Valieva was allowed to compete in the women’s singles, where the gold medal favorite finished fourth after a number of falls and stumbles.

But both results have now been disqualified following a ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which would see the US awarded gold in the team event after finishing second behind Russia.

The news that Valieva had tested positive for a banned substance in 2021 emerged when she was 15

The start of the four-year ban goes back to the time of the failed test, meaning it will run until Christmas Day 2025

Valieva was initially cleared a year ago by a Russian Anti-Doping Agency investigation, which found she bore “no culpability of negligence” over her failed test before the 2022 Winter Olympics.

However, the controversial decision was challenged by the World Anti-Doping Agency, with CAS – the sport’s highest court – upholding their appeal on Monday and finding the teenager guilty of an anti-doping rule violation (ADRV).

CAS said Valieva, now 17, did not dispute the presence of the banned substance and that she was “unable to establish, on the balance of probabilities and on the evidence before the panel, that she did not have the ADRV committed. on purpose’.

Valieva’s four-year ban is backdated to December 25, 2021, when her sample was collected during the Russian Figure Skating Championships in St. Petersburg.

All her competitive results from that date have been disqualified, ‘with all consequences, including loss of titles, awards, medals, winnings, prizes and appearance fees’.

CAS said the “consequences associated with the retroactive disqualification” of Valieva “do not fall within the scope of these arbitration proceedings.”

However, it is almost certain that the International Olympic Committee and the International Skating Union will now strip Russia of the team gold and hand it to the US, with Japan upgraded to silver and Canada elevated to bronze.

WADA said in a statement: ‘WADA welcomes the decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sport to uphold his appeal and impose a four-year ineligibility period on Kamila Valieva.

“WADA brought this appeal to CAS in the interests of fairness for athletes and clean sport and we believe this decision has achieved this.

‘Doping in children is inexcusable. Doctors, coaches and other support staff found to have provided performance-enhancing drugs to minors must face the full force of the World Anti-Doping Code.”