Russian Skater Kamila Valieva Cleared to Compete at Olympics

Coach Eteri Tutberidze, center, talks to Kamila Valieva, of the Russian Olympic Committee, during a training session at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Sunday, Feb. 13, 2022, in Beijing. (AP)
Coach Eteri Tutberidze, center, talks to Kamila Valieva, of the Russian Olympic Committee, during a training session at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Sunday, Feb. 13, 2022, in Beijing. (AP)
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Russian Skater Kamila Valieva Cleared to Compete at Olympics

Coach Eteri Tutberidze, center, talks to Kamila Valieva, of the Russian Olympic Committee, during a training session at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Sunday, Feb. 13, 2022, in Beijing. (AP)
Coach Eteri Tutberidze, center, talks to Kamila Valieva, of the Russian Olympic Committee, during a training session at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Sunday, Feb. 13, 2022, in Beijing. (AP)

Russian teenager Kamila Valieva has been cleared to compete in the women’s figure skating competition at the Winter Olympics despite failing a pre-Games drug test, setting her up for an attempt at a second gold medal in Beijing.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport released its ruling less than 12 hours after a hastily arranged hearing that lasted into early Monday morning that the 15-year-old Valieva, the favorite for the women’s individual gold, does not need to be provisionally suspended ahead of a full investigation.

The court gave her a favorable decision in part because she was a minor or “protected person” and was subject to different rules from an adult athlete.

“The panel considered that preventing the athlete to compete at the Olympic Games would cause her irreparable harm in the circumstances,” CAS Director General Matthieu Reeb said.

Now, Valieva and her fellow Russian skaters can aim for the first podium sweep of women’s figure skating in Olympic history. The event starts with the short program Tuesday and concludes Thursday with the free skate.

Shortly after the decision, Valieva skated in her allotted practice time slot.

The CAS panel also cited fundamental issues of fairness in its ruling, the fact she tested clean in Beijing and that there were “serious issues of untimely notification” of her positive test.

Valieva tested positive for the heart drug trimetazidine on Dec. 25 at the Russian nationals but the result from a Swedish lab didn’t come to light until a week ago, after she helped the Russian Olympic Committee win the team gold.

Reasons for the six-week wait for a result from Sweden are unclear, though Russian officials have suggested it was partly because of a January surge in omicron variant COVID-19 cases, which affected staffing at the lab.

Her case has caused havoc at the Olympics since last Tuesday when the team event medal ceremony was pulled from the schedule.

The Russian anti-doping agency (RUSADA) immediately suspended her, then lifted the ban a day later, putting into limbo the awarding of the medals. The IOC and others appealed and an expedited hearing was held Sunday night. Valieva testified via video conference.

Athletes under 16 like Valieva have more rights under anti-doping rules and typically aren’t held responsible for taking banned substances. The focus of any future investigation will home in on her personal team - coaches, doctors, nutritionists, etc.

This ruling only addresses whether Valieva can keep skating before her case is resolved. It doesn’t decide the fate of the one gold medal she has already won.

Valieva landed the first quadruple jumps by a woman at the Olympics when she won the team event gold with the Russian Olympic Committee last Monday. The United States took silver and Japan the bronze. Canada placed fourth.

That medal, and any medal she wins in the individual competition, could still be taken from her.

Those issues will be dealt with in a separate, longer-term investigation of the positive doping test that will be led by RUSADA, which took the sample in St. Petersburg.

The World Anti-Doping Agency will have the right to appeal any ruling by RUSADA, and also said it wants to independently investigate Valieva’s entourage.

With the Valieva case, questions raised by an often-proven culture of doping in Russian sport has been a major theme for a sixth straight Olympic Games, including the past three winter editions at Sochi, Russia; Pyeongchang, South Korea; and now Beijing.

“This appears to be another chapter in the systematic and pervasive disregard for clean sport by Russia,” US Olympic and Paralympic Committee CEO Sarah Hirshland said in a statement.

Hirshland said the USOPC was “disappointed by the message this decision sends” and suggested athletes were denied the confidence of knowing they competed on a level playing field.

At the rink Tuesday, the ice dance competition was decided as the CAS prepared its verdict.

Gold medalists Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron of France and American bronze medalists Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue offered, “No comment.”

Nikita Katsalapov, who along with Victoria Sinitsina won the silver medal for the Russians, said simply: “Go Kamila!”

Hubbell and Donohue could have their silver medals upgraded to gold in the team competition if the Russians are stripped of their title at a later date.

“There’s no done deal yet, but I know all the people in the team want to receive the medals here as a team’” Hubbell said. “If we miss that opportunity, it’s huge disappointment.”

The IOC had asked for the entire Valieva doping case to be resolved in Beijing, which was unrealistic. The IOC, though, can now reschedule a team skating medal ceremony.



PSG Win 13th French Title Ahead of Aston Villa Champions League Clash

PSG's supporters celebrate winning the French League One championship title after the soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Angers at Parc des Princes stadium in Paris, Saturday, April 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
PSG's supporters celebrate winning the French League One championship title after the soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Angers at Parc des Princes stadium in Paris, Saturday, April 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
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PSG Win 13th French Title Ahead of Aston Villa Champions League Clash

PSG's supporters celebrate winning the French League One championship title after the soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Angers at Parc des Princes stadium in Paris, Saturday, April 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
PSG's supporters celebrate winning the French League One championship title after the soccer match between Paris Saint-Germain and Angers at Parc des Princes stadium in Paris, Saturday, April 5, 2025. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)

Paris Saint-Germain clinched the Ligue 1 title on Saturday with a 1-0 win at home against Angers as they prepare for a Champions League quarter-final showdown with Aston Villa.

PSG needed just a draw at home to their struggling opponents to be confirmed as champions again, having started the day a huge 21 points clear of nearest challengers Monaco with seven matches left.

Desire Doue's strike early in the second half decided the game in PSG's favor, allowing Luis Enrique's team to take the title with six matches still to play.

It is a fourth consecutive Ligue 1 title for the club from the French capital and their 11th in the last 13 seasons.

Their overall tally of 13 French league titles is three more than Saint-Etienne, who are the next most successful club with 10 but have not been champions since 1981.

Marseille have won nine titles, while Nantes and Monaco have each been champions on eight occasions.

The extent to which winning the French league has become a routine exercise for the Parisian outfit helps explain why celebrations were far from excessive on a beautiful spring day in the city.

However, Luis Enrique was raised aloft by members of his coaching staff while the PSG players undertook a lap of honor of the Parc des Princes pitch.

The trophy ceremony will take place at a later date, with PSG maintaining their focus on the European clash with Villa, who visit the Parc des Princes for the first leg of their quarter-final on Wednesday, before the return in England on April 15.

However, PSG have another objective in their sights in the league, one which would make this title triumph stand out above all others, AFP reported.

They remain undefeated after 28 matches, with 23 wins and just five draws, and are on course to become the first team to complete a Ligue 1 campaign without losing a game.

The closest any French side has come to an unbeaten season remains Nantes, who went undefeated through their first 32 games before losing their only game on the way to winning the title in 1994/95.

That was a 38-game season, while PSG will only play 34 matches in this campaign, with the league having recently been reduced from 20 clubs to 18.

They will not play again in Ligue 1 until a home meeting with struggling Le Havre on April 19, with next week's trip to Nantes postponed to April 22 in order to allow PSG to recover in between the two legs of their tie against Villa.

Ousmane Dembele, PSG's top scorer with 32 goals in all competitions this season, was rested at kick-off against Angers, having netted twice in the 4-2 midweek win over second-tier Dunkerque in the semi-finals of the French Cup.

Bradley Barcola, the team's second-top marksman on 18 goals, was also left out of the starting line-up and it was far from a vintage performance by the home side.

They were perhaps fortunate early on when Angers forward Esteban Lepaul ran through on goal before being outmuscled by Willian Pacho, the challenge a fair one in the eyes of the referee.

Doue was on hand to convert from a Khvicha Kvaratskhelia cross 10 minutes into the second half as he scored his 11th goal in all competitions since signing from Rennes at the start of the season.

That proved enough for PSG to win the game and take the title, maintaining Luis Enrique's record of having won every domestic trophy since he took over prior to last season.

Monaco are in action later away to Brest, while Lyon host Lille in Saturday's other Ligue 1 game, a key encounter in the fight for Champions League qualification.