The ROC (Russian Olympic Committee) is notoriously known for performance enhancing drug usage in the Olympics. This year’s Beijing 2022 Olympics was no different. 15 year old Kamila Valieva has been thrown under fire for usage of a variety of performance enhancing drugs.  

In recent years, the Olympics has strictly enforced the antidoping policy with little to no exceptions. Thus, the question arises how was Kamila Valieva allowed to compete with a positive drug test? Kamila Valieva is a well known young figure skater and a favorite to have won the 2022 Olympics. On February 8, it was revealed that Valieva tested positive for Trimetazidine (a commonly used heart medication) back in December. She was then initially suspended as per protocol, but her suspension was revoked on February 14 due to the fact she was under the protection of the WADA as a result of her age. 

As if this wasn’t enough, The New York Times revealed, on February 15, that Valieva had also tested for two other heart medications Hypoxen and L- Carnitine along with the initial Trimetazidine. However, Kamila and her coach Eteri Tutberidze) pleaded that the ingestion of Trimetazidine was a simple accident. They stated that Valieva’s grandfather had been taking it for a heart condition and Valieva had taken some accidentally thinking it was a vitamin. 

Alas, after countless debates the decision was made that Kamila Valieva would be allowed to compete, but no medal ceremony will be held if she wins. On February 15, Valieva went to compete with a negative drug test and made numerous mistakes. She unexpectedly did not receive a medal. Thus, a podium ceremony was held for her two teammates Anna Scherbakova (gold), Alexandra Trusova (silver), as well as Japan’s Karoi Sakamoto (bronze). 

Photo Credit: Chang W. Lee/The New York Times

Resources:

-https://www.cbssports.com/olympics/news/winter-olympics-explaining-the-kamila-valieva-doping-scandal-that-is-clouding-the-russian-figure-skater/

-https://www.npr.org/2022/02/12/1080330180/how-did-the-anti-doping-system-for-the-beijing-olympics-break-down-so-badly

-https://olympics.com/beijing-2022/olympic-games/en/results/figure-skating/olympic-daily-schedule.htm