Former president of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) Leonid Tyagachev said that US President Joe Biden and International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach are responsible for the decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to disqualify Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva. His words guide the way “Soviet sport”.
“They may be blamed for this decision. So how could this be, they dragged everything out for so long? This is so stupid, there is nothing but politics here. This is so unfair. There are only bad words, I can’t say them. I was a great sports leader in the past and I tell you you can’t do this with a real athlete. This is great hatred towards our country. Problem, problem, problem,” Tyagachev said.
CAS disqualified Valieva for four years from December 25, 2021 – on this day of the year, a banned substance trimetazidine was found in the athlete’s sample taken at the Russian Championships. The fact that the test gave a positive result became clear at the 2022 Olympics after Russia’s victory in the team tournament.
At the same time, CAS allowed Valieva to participate in the individual tournament, with the condition that the award ceremony would not take place if the skater won a medal. Valieva took the lead after the short program, but made a number of serious mistakes in the free skate, which ultimately allowed her to take fourth place.
The fate of the Olympic team’s tournament medals will be decided by the International Skating Union Council (ISU) at the meeting to be held on February 7.
Previously Valieva guess end of career.