Follow live updates from the Winter Olympics as Kamila Valieva, the 15-year-old Russian figure skater, was cleared to continue competing at the Games despite testing positive for a banned substance. Valieva, the face of the Beijing Winter Olympics, faced a hearing from the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Monday but they ruled there were “exceptional circumstances” in her case and overturned her provisional doping suspension.
Meanwhile, Eve Muirhead’s Team GB suffered a 7-3 defeat to Canada, a result that comes as a blow to their hopes of reaching the semi-finals. It leaves the women’s team with three wins and three defeats from their six games, and with little margin for error in their remaining matches. There was better news for the men’s team, however, as Bruce Mouat’s team defeated Switzerland with their final stone to claim their fifth win and close in on the final four. There was disappointment for Team GB elsewhere, however, after Katie Ormerod failed to qualify for Tuesday’s snowboard big air final after a fall on her final run.
The big story in Beijing continues to surround Valieva, though, and the ruling has been questioned by the United States Olympic Committee (USPOC), who finished behind the Russian Olympic Committee as the teenager contributed to team gold last week. In a statement, USPOC chief executive Sarah Hirshland said: “We are disappointed by the message this decision sends”, adding: “This appears to be another chapter in the systemic and pervasive disregard for clean sport by Russia.” Follow live coverage from the Winter Olympics below:
