Valieva was erased from the protocols: the gold of the Olympic figure skating team turned into bronze

The ISU did not delay after the disqualification of Kamila Valieva and awarded our skaters third place. Resetting the result in women’s single skating, but without changing the points scored by other participants. Canadians who finished fourth in Beijing will not receive a medal. Because even after crossing out Kamila’s results on the Olympic ice (Valieva brought the team 20 points out of 74), they were still 1 point behind the Russian team. This is about the advantage of our skaters in Beijing.

First place instead of the Russians (the team included Kamila Valieva, Mark Kondratyuk, Anastasia Mishina and Alexander Gallyamov, Victoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapov) was currently taken by the US team (65 points), the Japanese were second (63), and our team dropped to third line (54). It’s not hard to imagine how much Canadian squealing there will be now from those who already hung bronze medals around their necks on the day of Kamila’s verdict.

…Yes, those tears that many fans, athletes and specialists had at the Olympic Games in Beijing have returned. But today they are no longer about Camila’s personal drama and not even about the missing Olympic gold in the team tournament. Two years have passed, and we were not ready to protect the figure skater, which any country in the world can only dream of. Why? Yes, the political situation today is rubbish. It couldn’t help but have an effect: at least on the subconscious of the judges, at least in some way. It is obvious. Yes, there is an attack on all Russian sports. But didn’t we know this? We cannot change the situation. But jumping over your head in sports is the law. They didn’t jump.

RUSADA said that the proceedings were a secret. Like: we have the right not to disclose. Of course, in Camila’s interests. The rest looked at the situation from the outside, asked questions without receiving answers. The first widespread reaction after the leaked version about grandfather’s glass: bewilderment and nervous laughter. The version was questioned even by those who were for Camila – with all their soul and heart. And, if it is true that the figure skater’s defense later turned the glass, which received worldwide fame, into a cake prepared by her grandfather, this is already some kind of powerlessness of minds. I would like to get at least some comments now: who defended, how they defended, where did these people come from?

And now the verdict is no longer a secret: guilty. Four years disqualification. She was punished as a malicious offender. Small dose of the drug? Did not work. And the punishment is not as a protected person who was under 16 years of age at the time of the violation, but as an adult athlete. But it was precisely the defense of the young athlete that was one of the winning cards that was voiced and, apparently, played by lawyers for the same two years.

We don’t really know anything today. They themselves collected bit by bit in their minds information that could help lawyers. Here – there are expert opinions about the ineffectiveness of trimetazidine as a means of improving results. Or telling examples: in 2018, CAS reduced the disqualification of swimmer Madisyn Cox from the USA and our bobsledder Nadezhda Sergeeva, both samples contained the same drug in a small concentration…

For some reason, it seems naively (or maybe not so naively) that everything could have ended differently if Kamila had come forward with other explanations, simpler than a glass: I don’t know how the drug got into my body. It won’t end in forgiveness, of course, but perhaps with an adequate punishment in such cases: up to two years. And Valieva’s samples before and after were contaminated were clean. Just like trying out for the Olympic Games.

Kamila, or rather her lawyers, were unable to prove that taking the drug was unintentional. That’s what the court decided. If there were no procedural violations in CAS during the consideration of the case, then our appeal is useless. Do not challenge the verdict, do not return anything.

Press Secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov voiced the Kremlin’s position: they do not agree with the decisions on either Valieva or the Olympic gold. “We don’t accept them. At the same time, we believe that, of course, we need to continue working with all relevant structures. If there is any opportunity to challenge and continue to defend the rights of our athletes, they must be mobilized to the end.”

Kamila Valieva is allowed to perform only in commercial ice shows. You can even work as a trainer in private institutions. And there is show business, it is generally free from thoughts about disqualification.

Today, almost all of Kamila’s official achievements on ice disappear from the protocols, erased with an Olympic eraser. Now she is not on the podium at the main tournaments. Russian Championship 2022: Alexandra Trusova, Anna Shcherbakova, Adelia Petrosyan; European Championship 2022: Anna Shcherbakova, Alexandra Trusova, Luna Hendricks; Russian Championship 2023: Sofya Akatieva, Elizaveta Tuktamysheva, Sofya Muravyova; Russian Championship 2024: Adelia Petrosyan, Sofia Muravyova, Ksenia Sinitsyna; and all results of past Grand Prix stages must be reviewed.

More than once recently, Kamila has said that she intends to run a marathon in her career, not a sprint, that is, she was setting herself and us up for a long career. Perhaps (or certainly) she knew that the court’s decision could be like this. From the outside, if we put aside the tearful emotions, in this disqualification she can even go through puberty more calmly. Almost all of our stars who made their mark in their youth passed through it. And Camila also fought with him in front of everyone, receiving reproaches for her obvious weight gain, catching spear words that she was no longer “the one” and would not be “the one.”

Many are already saying: she doesn’t need to worry, she won’t disappear. And there is no need to worry about her – for the same reason. In life – no: shows, television, projects… But will it disappear for figure skating? This question arose back in Beijing. Everyone then, being in permanent shock, rushed to speculate what would happen to Camila if suddenly… “Suddenly” happened. Will the skater last until October 2025? When will it be possible to return to normal training two months before the end of the disqualification? Will he be willing to endure it?

…But the ROC is still appealing the loss of our athletes’ gold medal in the team tournament. And lawyers have already begun preparing the necessary documents for filing an appeal. “We proceed from the fact that, in accordance with the current, applicable ISU rules, the consequences of a decision on sanctions against an individual athlete, in this case Kamila Valieva, cannot be a basis for reviewing the results of a team tournament. Our legal position is based, among other things, on existing precedents in CAS practice.”

Yes, a bronze medal cannot be considered a consolation. And in all the events that happened, it is impossible to find it. We need to once again draw conclusions and patch up legal holes. In the meantime, there are again questions: for example, will this appeal be successful? Or, as a result of new proceedings, only boxes of Olympic awards will remain in the hands of our athletes? The Canadians, who skated for a wooden medal even without boxes, have probably not already begun their preparations, but are rushing to court with documents for their appeal.