By John Carlo Ayende
PHOTO: Evgenia Novozhenina/Reuters/Inquirer.Net

The Court of Arbitration for Sport is letting the 15-year-old Russian sensation Kamila Valieva participate in the women’s figure skating competition at the ongoing Beijing Winter Olympics in spite of her doping controversy, leaving the sporting world in complete disbelief.  

Valieva was tested positive for a banned substance called “Trimetazidine”, a performance-enhancing drug that increases the blood flow to the heart that improves the endurance of a person.

CAS stated that Valieva’s case is different since she is a “protected person” under the World Anti-Doping Code because she is only a minor.

However, the International Olympic Committee has decided not to hold the medal ceremony if Valieva wins but the decision of clearing her to compete in the next event is still questionable.  

The results from the Swedish laboratory were not reported until February 08, allowing the Russian skater to compete and win gold for ROC in the women’s single skating event.

Many were left disappointed by the decision including US sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson who was left out of Team USA’s Olympic roster for the 2020 Tokyo Summer Games after testing positive for marijuana.

 “The only difference I see is I’m a black young lady,” a befuddled Richardson expressed on her Twitter account, seeking a clear answer on the difference between her case and Valieva’s controversy.

It is not the first time Russia has had this kind of issue. Young Russian athletes like Anna Scherbakova, Alexandra Trusova, Aliona Kostornaia, Evgenia Medvedeva, Alina Zagitova, and Yulia Lipnitskaya were also exploited by the adults for the sake of medals.

To prevent this kind of issue to occur in the next competitions, Phil Harsh suggested that IOC should make major changes by either banning all the Russian athletes or by having age restrictions.

“The IOC is going to have to make changes itself which it's not been very likely to do in the past. It's going to have to say to Russia, this is it. I mean finally, you know they have slapped them on the wrist all these times, finally, there's going to have to be an actual ban. No Russian athletes competing in the Olympics, and they may get involved with the age limit issue as well,” Harsh discussed in an interview with NBC Sports.
 
In addition, when asked if compassion should be the deciding factor, Harsh preferred that IOC should stick with the written rules.


Edited by Jostle Doen Pilayre