Kamila Valieva had multiple substances in system–report
2022 Beijing Olympics – Figure Skating – Women Single Skating – Short Program – Capital Indoor Stadium, Beijing, China – February 15, 2022. Kamila Valieva of the Russian Olympic Committee in action. REUTERS/Aleksandra Szmigiel
Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva had three different substances used to treat heart conditions in the sample which triggered the doping storm at the Beijing Olympics, the New York Times reported on Tuesday.
Valieva learned during the Games she had tested positive in December for trimetazidine, a drug used to treat angina which also boosts endurance.
On Monday, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled that she could carry on at the Olympics, but that does not mean she has been cleared of doping and she could still face punishment at a later date.
The Times reported that her sample also contained the heart medications hypoxen and L-Carnitine, which are not on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s prohibited list.
The Times report said the disclosures concerning the different substances were contained in a document submitted at Sunday’s Court of Arbitration for Sport hearing that ended with the controversial decision to allow Valieva to compete.
Senior IOC member Denis Oswald told reporters in Beijing on Tuesday that Valieva told the CAS hearing she tested positive because of “contamination” from her grandfather’s medicine.
Russian media reported that Valieva allegedly drank from the same glass as her grandfather, who takes trimetazidine for a heart condition.
The Times report said that Valieva’s grandfather had provided a pre-recorded video message to a hearing with Russian anti-doping officials on February 9 in which he said he used trimetazidine to treat “attacks.”
The athlete’s grandfather showed a packet of the medication during the message.
Valieva’s mother told the same hearing her daughter took the substance hypoxen due to heart “variations”, the Times report said.
She added that Valieva’s grandfather also accompanied the teenager to practice on a daily basis.
