“There will be an asterisk against the results…because they will be preliminary obviously, pending further investigation,” said IOC spokesperson Mark Adams, who confirmed that the post-event medal ceremony has been canceled, despite the absence of final scores. Following her top-rated performance in Tuesday’s short program, Valieva, 15, leads three ROC figure skaters who currently occupy the top four places of the women’s singles competition.
Adams cut a frustrated figure at times during Wednesday’s daily press conference in Beijing, having fielded more questions about the IOC’s handling of Valieva’s case, which he stressed was still pending. The previous day’s press event had featured IOC member and veteran sports lawyer Denis Oswald, who insisted the committee would find a way to hand correctly attributed medals to the other competitors if Valieva’s prize has to be withdrawn in the future.
“I would just remind you, as I remind everyone here, that this case has not yet concluded. In fact, as far as I know, the B sample hasn’t even been opened,” Adams said, referring to another supporting drug test conducted before the 2022 Winter Olympics. It would be “really inappropriate” to draw conclusions, he said.
“Would we prefer not to have all this going on? Absolutely. Would we prefer to be having a normal competition without this distracting from it? I think everyone would agree with that, the athletes particularly, and it’s for the athletes that my heart goes out. But we are where we are,” Adams said. Valieva’s was the only case so far at the Beijing Games, he noted.
Controversy and criticism have followed Monday’s decision to clear Valieva to compete in this week’s remaining figure skating events. After her positive test result came to light, a panel with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled that the teenager should be allowed to compete, citing her status as a minor and potential “irreparable harm” to her career, among other reasons.
Seemingly under immense pressure, the young Russian from Moscow burst into tears at the end of her performance in the short program, which yielded a score of 82.16 and put her in pole position heading into Thursday’s long program, or free skate. She didn’t outdo the world record 90.45 achieved at the European championships in January, but if she comes close to matching her long program world record—185.29 at the Russian championships in December 2021—the total score should see her claim her second gold of the games.
Following the CAS ruling, the IOC said Valieva’s lawyers brought a defense that included a claim of accidental contamination with her grandfather’s heart medication, trimetazidine, a substance banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency for its potential to boost an athlete’s endurance. A New York Times report said the Stockholm laboratory that analyzed Valieva’s sample had also found evidence of two other heart medications not on the banned list: hypoxen and L-Carnitine.
The February 17 medal event is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. local time. Having placed first in the short program, Valieva is No. 25 and last on the bill to perform. The IOC has said she won’t be forced to speak to the press at a post-event press conference.
