BEIJING – Today’s Olympic doping update: Russians are not supposed to take drugs, but they can give them to their kids. That is not a joke. Well, it is. But it’s not supposed to be.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) decided skater Kamila Valieva can continue to compete in figure skating at the Olympics despite taking a banned heart medication because, according to the IOC, Valieva is a “protected person.” I figured Valieva is protected because she is Russian, but it turns out, it’s because she is 15.
Basically: She is too young for her drug use to be her fault, so carry on. So now, Valieva gets to keep her gold medal from the team competition and perform in the singles competition, and if Russia puts amphetamines in her breakfast and springs in her skates, you can expect the IOC to respond with a look of moderate disappointment.
