Kamila Valieva has been one of 55 Russian athletes sanctioned for supporting her country's invasion of Ukraine.
The teenage ice skater has already made global headlines this year, following the drugs scandal that rocked the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. Having been part of the team that won figure skating gold in China, it then emerged that she'd tested positive for trimetazidine.
Her test related to the Russian National Figure Skating Championships in December 2021, prompting outcry as to why it was only coming to light two months later. The saga is still ongoing, with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) demanding a four-year ban if the Court of Arbitration for Sport rules that the Russian Anti-Doping Agency did not take correct action over Valieva’s positive test.
And now the Ukrainian Parliament have listed Valieva as one sporting figure who, amongst numerous other penalties, will be banned from entering the country for a total of 10 years, via insidethegames. Gymnast Ivan Kuliak, who wore the pro-invasion of Ukraine Z symbol during an International Gymnastics Federation Apparatus World Cup in Doha, is also listed.
But the sport with the highest number of sanctioned athletes is figure skating, with Valieva joined on the list by 11 fellow athletes. Alongside Kuliak, four more artistic gymnasts and four more rhythmic gymnasts are also included.
Eight wrestlers, six cross-country skiers, and five boxers also feature, including one of Russia's most notable athletes, Alexander Povetkin, who fought Anthony Joshua and had back-to-back clashes with Dillian Whyte, among the names.
Three chess players, two footballers, two biathletes, and representatives from swimming, speed skating, ski jumping, martial arts and hockey complete the list. Seven of those named appeared at a pro-war rally organised by Russian President Putin at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow in March.
Surprisingly, a former Ukrainian football captain and now coach is also listed. Anatoliy Tymoshchuk is the nation's all-time most capped player with 144 caps, and took part in Ukraine's first-ever FIFA World Cup in 2006 and their first European Championship in 2012.
He is now an assistant at Russian Premier League club Zenit St Petersburg. Earlier this year, the Ukrainian Football Association stripped him of his national coaching licence and titles because he did not speak out against Russia's ongoing invasion and stayed on in his role at Zenit.
