Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva is preparing for the free program, which will take place on February 17 at the 2022 Olympics in Beijing, everything is fine with the athlete. This was announced by the President of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) Stanislav Pozdnyakov.
The day before, Valieva took first place in the short program in women’s singles at the Games, after the performance she refused to participate in a press conference, citing poor health.
“Everything is in order with Camila, she is preparing for a further performance,” Pozdnyakov said in an interview with TASS on February 16.
Earlier that day, it became known that Valieva will perform with an indicative number on February 20 if she takes a leading position in the women’s individual tournament.
At the same time, the results of the Olympic figure skating tournament among singles will be considered preliminary if Valieva gets into the top three, until the end of the investigation related to her doping test.
Kamila Valieva (82.16) leads after the short program at the Olympics. The second place is occupied by Anna Shcherbakova (80.20), Alexandra Trusova (74.60) is in the fourth position, the Sport Express website specifies. The third place was taken by the representative of Japan Kaori Sakamoto (79.84).
Before sports competitions, athletes take a blood and urine test. The samples taken are divided into two parts – samples A and B, which are examined for the presence of prohibited substances. First, the doping control authority analyzes the A sample and retains the B sample in case the blood or urine needs to be tested again for prohibited substances.
It is reported that Valieva’s B sample after the short program has not yet been opened.
On February 9, it became known about the dubious doping test of 15-year-old Valieva. A World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)-accredited laboratory in Stockholm reported that the test, which was passed on December 25, found traces of doping-qualified trimetazidine. The figure skater was temporarily suspended from the competition, but the decision was successfully challenged.
On February 14, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) rejected the appeals of WADA and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and allowed the Russian woman to compete in individual competitions at the Olympic Games.
The Russian Olympic Committee, commenting on the situation, indicated that Valieva received negative doping test results before and after December 25, and the athlete’s sample after the team tournament in Beijing also turned out to be clean, like all other samples taken during the Olympics.
The athlete herself said that, despite this difficult period due to the doping scandal, she is happy to continue her performance at the Beijing Olympics.
On February 7, the ROC figure skating team with Valieva took gold in the team tournament. The figure skater won both programs.
The 2022 Olympics are held from February 4 to 20, the Paralympics – from March 4 to 13. The games will be held in three clusters at once: in Beijing (hockey, figure skating, speed skating, curling), Zhangjiakou (biathlon, cross-country skiing, snowboarding, ski jumping) and Yanqing (alpine skiing, bobsleigh, skeleton and luge).