Russian officials announced Friday they have largely chosen not to discipline Kamila Valieva, the 16-year-old figure skater whose doping case overshadowed the competition at the Beijing Olympics a year ago. They explained she had indeed committed a violation but “bore no fault or negligence” for it, so they disqualified her results from the day of the sample collection—her final event of the 2022 Russian Championships—but otherwise imposed no sanction.
The decision, if upheld, would allow the Russian Olympic Committee to keep its gold medal in the Olympic team competition. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) said in a statement that it is “concerned by the finding of ‘no fault or negligence’ and will not hesitate to exercise its right of appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, as appropriate.” In November, WADA asked CAS to levy a four-year ban on Valieva. That case is still pending.
If CAS does punish Valieva, Russia could be stripped of its Olympic team gold medal, which would go to the United States. Japan, which finished third, and Canada, which finished fourth, would also move up in the standings.
