IOC Spox Affirms Agency '100% Against Doping' After ITA Issues Report on Russian Figure Skater
03:38 GMT 11.02.2022 (Updated: 04:16 GMT 11.02.2022)
© REUTERS / FABRIZIO BENSCH
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International Olympic Committee spokesperson Mark Adams affirms that the IOC is "100% against doping," following an International Testing Agency press release that details Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva's positive drug test.
The IOC has yet to award medals for the Figure Skating Team Event as the "active case" continues. Adams reiterated that he does not want to make any comments that "prejudice the case."
While speaking with the media, Adams received the ITA document that explains Valieva's testing situation.
Adams told reporters, "Cases like Valieva's are not helpful to the Olympics." He added, "We do look at entourages of athletes in these cases."
Due to Russian athletes' recent previous instances of doping, Adams felt the need to defend the IOC's response and treatment of Russian Olympic athletes.
"We took tough but appropriate action against Russia over doping," Adams told reporters.
The ITA document stresses that because Valieva is a minor and therefore a protected person meaning her privacy should be protected.
The statement read, "Seeing that some in the media did not grant her the same protection and have reported widely on the basis of unofficial information following the postponement of the medal ceremony of the figure skating Team Event at the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022, the ITA acknowledges the necessity for official information due to heightened public interest."
The chronology of Valieva's positive test is then detailed. A sample collected on December 25 by the Russian Anti-Doping Agency was found to have trimetazidine by a lab in Stockholm, Sweden. Immediately, the athlete was provisionally suspended by the RUSADA.
10 February 2022, 03:43 GMT
The athlete then challenged the suspension before the RUSADA Disciplinary Anti-Doping Committee on 9 February 2022.
"On the evening of 9 February 2020, the RUSADA Disciplinary Anti-Doping Committee decided to lift the athlete’s provisional suspension, thus allowing her to continue her participation in the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022," the ITA statement reads.
The reason for the suspension being lifted has not been revealed but will be made available shortly according to the statement.
The Ministry of Sport of the Russian Federation released a statement over the postponement of the medal ceremony and Kamila Valieva's alleged doping violation.
"The Ministry of Sport of the Russian Federation thinks it to be premature to comment about the information in the media regarding the postponement of the awards ceremony for the figure skating team competition at the Games in Beijing until official information," the statement read.
The decision on the final results of the figure skating team tournament of the Winter Olympics in Beijing will be made by the International Skating Union (ISU) after the consideration of the doping case of Russia's Kamila Valieva, the ITA said on Friday.
The Women Single Skating event is scheduled for February 15. Kamila Valieva, if competing, is expected to be a favorite to secure the gold medal.
