Report: Figure skating favorite Valieva tested positive for banned substance before Olympics

According to a report from Russian newspaper RBC, Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) star figure skater Kamila Valieva tested positive for a banned substance ahead of the 2022 Olympic Games. Even though the sample was reportedly obtained before Valieva won the European championship last month in Estonia, it could still affect her eligibility in Beijing.

The banned substance reportedly detected is called trimetazidine. According to the European Union’s medicines agency, trimetazidine is a metabolic agent that helps prevent angina attacks and treats vertigo. It is banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) because it can help endurance and increase blood flow efficiency.

“According to early clinical studies, it could slightly – I emphasize that for us this is clinically insignificant – improve exercise tolerance,” Russian cardiologist Dr. Anton Rodionov said Thursday. “But on the other hand, we understand that high-achieving athletes are fighting so hard for every millisecond, for every 0.0001 percent, that they believe, as they sometimes say, that every dust speck can act as a vitamin.”

Valieva is a heavy favorite in the individual figure skating competition. Confirmation of the positive test for the banned substance could not only take the figure skater out of that competition but also cost the ROC its team gold it won on Monday.

“For someone who has tested positive before the Games, it depends on a whole range of things,” International Olympic Committee (IOC) spokesperson Mark Adams said Tuesday. “It’s very difficult to talk in the abstract, of abstract cases, but it depends on a whole range of circumstances.”

Valieva practiced Thursday, implying that Russia is appealing or fighting the result of her drug test. When asked Thursday, the Kremlin referred reporters to the IOC.

“As always, not knowing the essence of the matter, everyone began to yell left and right,” Russian Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. “We will not join this orderly line of screamers.”

Russia is no stranger to doping scandals. The whole reason the ROC exists is because Russia was banned from the Olympics following a massive state-sponsored doping scheme at the 2014 Sochi Games.