The Court of Arbitration for Sport on Monday ruled Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva can compete in the women's singles at the Beijing Olympics, confirming a decision by Russia's anti-doping agency to lift her suspension after a failed doping test in December.
But the International Olympic Committee said the medal ceremony for the team event, in which Valieva helped the Russian Olympic Committee win gold, will not be held during the games as the latest CAS decision was not a decision on whether she violated the anti-doping rules.
"It was limited to the sole question of whether Ms. Valieva could be provisionally suspended from the Olympic competition following a positive A-sample taken on 25 December 2021," the IOC said.
The IOC, the World Anti-Doping Agency and the International Skating Union appealed to CAS to throw out a RUSADA decision that had allowed the 15-year-old gold medal favorite to continue competing in Beijing.
According to the International Testing Agency, Valieva failed a test at the Russian national championships on Dec. 25. Her sample came back positive on Tuesday, a day after she helped the Russian Olympic Committee win figure skating team gold.
In a statement issued by WADA, the agency said the "sample in this case was not flagged by RUSADA as being a priority" when sent to Stockholm, Sweden, for testing and "this meant the laboratory did not know to fast-track the analysis."
RUSADA temporarily suspended her only to lift the ban on Wednesday after an appeal by the skater.
The ruling said no provisional suspension should be imposed on the athlete due to exceptional circumstances, including Valieva being a "protected person" in the World Anti-Doping Code as she is under the age of 16.
It also stated that preventing Valieva, who has not tested positive during the Beijing Games and is still subject to a disciplinary procedure over her December case, from competing here "would cause her irreparable harm."
An "untimely" notification by the International Testing Agency hindered Valieva from readying documents for her support and it was not her fault the result of the test was released during the Beijing Games, said the ruling.
The women's short program is scheduled for Tuesday and the free skate Thursday. Valieva holds the world records for points scored in the short program, free skate and combined total.
The IOC said no medal and flower ceremonies will take place during the Beijing Games should Valieva finish among the top three in the women's singles, and will instead hold one once her case has been concluded in consultation with the athletes and national Olympic committees concerned.
Russian athletes are competing in Beijing under the Russian Olympic Committee banner due to a ban on the national team over allegations of orchestrated doping.
Had the gold medal-winning ROC been disqualified from the figure skating team event, the United States would have been elevated to gold, Japan to silver and Canada to bronze.
CAS noted it was not requested to rule on the merits of the case against Valieva, nor to "examine the legal consequences relating to the result of the team event in figure skating, as such issues will be examined in other proceedings."
The banned substance detected in Valieva's system in December was trimetazidine, a medication usually administered for heart diseases, but that can also help improve an athlete's stamina.
Related coverage:
Olympics: Court to decide on ban of ROC skater Valieva over doping
Olympics: ROC skater Kamila Valieva failed doping test, IOC seeks games ban
Olympics: Japan takes figure skating team bronze in Beijing
