Figure skater Alexander Gallyamov, who competed with his partner Anastasia Mishina in the 2022 Olympic Games team tournament, shared his thoughts that Kamila Valieva’s disqualification could lead to the gold medals being taken away from Russia in the team tournament. His words guide the way “Sports Express”.
“The decision regarding this situation was highly anticipated. There seemed to be a tendency to make just such a decision, so I personally tried not to pay attention to it. However, since our medals were not given officially or unofficially, no one took them from us. Once upon a time in history, shrouded in legend, there had already been an incident where medals were denied in a team tournament. Now the situation has taken on new forms,” said Gallyamov.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) disqualified Valieva for four years from December 25, 2021 – on this day of the year, trimetazidine, a banned substance, 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. If the Russian team is deprived of gold, it will go to the USA, Japan will receive silver, and Canada will receive bronze.
Valieva case at the heads of the State Duma named Special operation against Russia.