MOSCOW – The chief of Russia’s Olympic Committee Stanislav Pozdnyakov told Russian media today that he had “serious questions” over doping tests taken by skater Kamila Valieva, who tested positive for a banned drug.
“The timings of sample processing raise serious questions: between December 25, when it was collected in Saint Petersburg, and February 8, when it was processed,” Pozdnyakov told the RIA Novosti news agency.
“It seems like someone held the sample until the end of the team skating tournament,” he said.
“According to international standards of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) laboratories, the processing time is 20 days from the date of receiving the sample,” Pozdnyakov told reporters, saying it was “strange that the sample travelled from Saint Petersburg to Stockholm for almost a month.”
He said he wanted “specific answers as to why this happened.”
The Russian Olympic Committee said today that Valieva had the right to compete in Beijing and that her gold medal should stand.
The IOC and the International Skating Union are appealing against Russia’s decision to allow Valieva to continue competing in Beijing after the 15-year-old tested positive for trimetazidine – a metabolic agent that is prescribed for the treatment of angina and vertigo.
It is banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency because it can increase blood flow efficiency and help endurance. – AFP, February 11, 2022
