The Valieva Case is Finally Put to Rest (Well, Not Exactly)

After a two-year saga, the Court of Arbitration for Sport, an international body established in 1984 to settle disputes related to sport through arbitration, rendered its verdict in the case of Russian Olympic figure skater Kamila Valieva, who was at the center of the 2022 Winter Olympic doping scandal. It concluded that Valieva had violated anti-doping rules, by testing positive for the prohibited substance trimetazidine, and banned her from competition for four years, while prohibiting the Russian team from claiming the gold medal it had won during the competition. Although the Court of Arbitration’s verdict was direct and final, the domino effect it’s had on the teams of other nations that placed second, third, and fourth in the competition—the U.S., Japan, and Canada—has revealed a level of bureaucracy that puts the Court in question due to its inability to deal with the fallout from its decision. Hear Professor Mark Conrad, J.D., weigh in on the consequences of the Court’s actions and how it is affecting the athletes and teams that were involved in this much publicized case. Tune in Now!

Host: Mark Conrad Producer: Victoria Ilano Additional Production: Jeffrey Haynes Artwork: Pamela V. White Marketing: Michelle Miller Music: ”MarcusWay/Energetic Pop Punk/Tribe of Noise”

Episode Transcript

(00:07):
Hello and
welcome to the Sports Business Podcastwith Prof.
C, the podcast that exploresthe world of professional,
collegiate, amateur, and Olympic sports.
I’m Mark Conrad or Prof.
C from Fordham University's Gabelli Schoolof Business, where I serve as Professor

(00:28):
of Law and Ethics and the Directorof the Sports Business Initiative.
After a two-year saga,
the Court of Arbitration for Sportrendered its verdict
in the case of Russian Olympicfigure skater Kamila Valieva.
International sport’s leading adjudicativebody concluded that she violated

(00:51):
anti-doping rules and banned herfrom competition for four years.
For Russia,it is the latest chapter in its decade
long series of doping violationsin its Olympic sports program.
The result is that U.S.
and Japan, originallythe second and third placed teams,

(01:12):
will now receive gold and silver medals.
But the bronze medal winneris still uncertain,
meaning that the conclusion of thissordid saga remains months away.
For Valieva, this is a scarlet
letter on her short but storied career.
Despite all the propaganda heardfrom the Russian sports establishment.

(01:34):
Coming into the 2022 Olympic Winter
Games, Valieva was the lodestaramong a highly talented
and dominant Russian women'sfigure skating group.
During the team event in Beijing,
Valieva, at age 15,
became the first woman in historyto complete a quadruple jump.

(01:57):
She helped lead her team to a gold medal
with a point totalconsiderably higher than the U.S.
team, which placed second.
But right after that team skating event,and just as the individual
skating competition was to begin,it was revealed that Valieva
tested positive for the prohibitedsubstance trimetazidine, a

(02:19):
drug normally used to
treat heart related conditions.
She claimed she ingested it after hergrandfather prepared a strawberry dessert
on the same chopping boardthat he used to crush his medication.
In other words,it was accidentally taken by her.
The substance was discoveredin a lab test administered five weeks

(02:42):
before the Olympicsafter the Russian National Championships.
But for some reason,the lab, located in Sweden,
failed to report the findinguntil the Beijing Games were underway.
Valieva did not contest the factthat the substance was present,
but arguedthat she did not intend to take it.

(03:03):
It was no surprise that the RussianAnti-Doping Agency, with a history
of utilizing methods to evadedoping rules,
cleared her to continue competing.
That decision was appealedby the International Skating Union
and the WorldAnti-Doping Agency, known as WADA.
An arbitration hearing occurredin Beijing on the question

(03:26):
of whether she could compete beforea final determination could be made.
The panel concluded she could, in
large partbecause she was only 15 and deemed
a quote, “protected person”unquote, due to her young age
and the potential adverse effect of hernot competing for a medal

(03:47):
before a final adjudication of her appealwas made by the panel.
Indeed, she did compete, andwhat the world witnessed was a disastrous
final skate with the presumptive goldmedal favorite falling and stumbling.
The result was a fourth placefinish and a shocking
putdown by her coach for everyone to see.

(04:10):
When she left the rink in tears,her coach,
Eteri Tutberidze, reprimanded her.
“Why did you let it go?”the coach was quoted as saying
in an English translation.
“Why did you stop fighting?
Explain it to me, why?”One of those who was shocked
was International Olympic CommitteePresident Thomas Bach.

(04:31):
“It was chilling to see this,” he said.
Months later,the hearing on the merits of her
claim was heldand almost two years after the incident,
the Court of Arbitrationfor Sport rendered its decision.
The panel rejected Valieva’s argumentthat she was not at fault.
“Too many shortcomings in the evidenceand too many unanswered

(04:54):
questions,” said the ruling.
The panel also rejected an argumentby the Russian doping agency
that her penaltyshould be less than the required four year
ban for doping violationsbecause of her age.
Therefore, she is prohibitedfrom competition for four years,
retroactive to the date of the test,which was December 25th, 2021.

(05:18):
So theoretically,she could compete in the next Winter
Olympics in Milan-Cortina, Italy in 2026.
Logically,one would think that the countries
originally placed second, thirdand fourth would be bumped up
and would receive medalsfor the team competition, with the U.S.
winning the gold.

(05:38):
A happy moment for the U.S.
team, which includes men's singlesskaters Nathan Chen and Karen
Chen and Vincent Zhou;the pair team of Alexa
Knierim and Brandon Frazier,and the ice dancing team's Madison Chock
and Evan Bates, along with Madison Hubbelland Zachary Donohue.
But not so fast.

(06:00):
Canada, which originally placedfourth, seeks to receive a bronze medal,
claiming the violationdisqualified the entire Russian team.
The International Skating Union,instead of eliminating Russia entirely,
simply deleted the pointsValieva earned in that team event,
which meant that Russiabarely edged Canada for that bronze.

(06:22):
This decisionby the Skating's International Federation
may have violated its own rulesregarding doping penalties.
One specific provisionstates, “An anti-doping rules violation
committed by a member of a team, occurringduring or in connection with an Event
may lead to disqualificationof all the results obtained by the team

(06:46):
in that Event with all Consequencesfor the team and its members,
including forfeitureof all medals, points and prizes.”
But note the word “may”rather than “must”.
So Canada is appealingthe Skating Federation's determination
in that same arbitral body,and who knows how long it's going to take.

(07:06):
The result of this messmeans that the teams from the U.S.,
Japan and possibly Canadawere robbed of their Olympic moment.
Who knows when they will get their medals?
The U.S.
athletes, in particular,missed out on significant endorsement
opportunities that come from the notorietyof winning the gold medal.
There was talk of awarding the medalsat the Paris Olympics,

(07:30):
but due to the Skating Union’s decisionto give Russia the team
bronze and Canada's subsequent appeal,all this is up in the air.
At the very least, the U.S.
and Japan teams are guaranteedof the gold and silver medals.
So even if Canada's appealis not determined by July, the U.S.
athletes should not wait any longer.

(07:51):
Give them the medals in Paris.
Finally, a word about the Russian OlympicCommittee's reaction
to Valieva’s suspension.
Among other rants, it said, “War
has been declared on Russian sports.”
An ironic statementcoming from a committee representing
a governmentthat started a real war in Ukraine.

(08:12):
After this sad saga, can these coachesand officials be proud of what happened?
Why weren't they punishedbut only Valieva?
And like in the battle days of Sovietsports,
are these young athletes indispensableas cogs in a state sponsored system
that extolls the gloriesof Vladimir Putin's government?

(08:32):
Any thoughts send them to meat [e-mail].
Thank you for listening.
Until next time, this is Prof.
C for the GabelliSports Business Initiatives.