Verdict in Russian determine skater Kamila Valieva’s doping case to be given by finish of January

LAUSANNE, Switzerland — A verdict within the Beijing Olympics doping case of Russian determine skater Kamila Valieva must be given by the tip of January, the Court of Arbitration for Sport stated Friday after a fifth day of enchantment proceedings.

The new deadline set by CAS ought to resolve the case practically two years after the then-15-year-old’s doping take a look at rocked the 2022 Winter Games in China.

Valieva’s optimistic take a look at for a banned coronary heart treatment was revealed solely after she helped the Russians win Olympic workforce gold in Beijing – and greater than six weeks after the pattern was taken on the nationwide championship she gained in St. Petersburg. The testing laboratory in Stockholm, Sweden, cited staffing points through the COVID-19 pandemic for the delayed consequence.

No medals within the workforce occasion have been ever awarded in Beijing, the place the United States took silver, Japan the bronze and Canada positioned fourth. They are in line to be upgraded if Valieva is disqualified.

Valieva’s protection has been that her optimistic take a look at was brought on by unintentional contamination – possibly from a glass or plate – by tablets her grandfather claimed he took.

She positioned fourth within the girls’s occasion with a mistake-filled free program below intense scrutiny and stress. A earlier CAS panel assembly in Beijing had allowed her to proceed competing regardless of the optimistic take a look at.

A panel of CAS judges heard three days of testimony in September and two extra this week. Valieva testified by video hyperlink from Russia.

The World Anti-Doping Agency has requested a ban by December 2025.

Valieva has not skated internationally since Beijing due to an ISU ban on Russians following the nation’s invasion of Ukraine.