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

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Mark Conrad
Hello and welcome to the Sports Business Podcast with Prof. C, the podcast that explores the world of professional, collegiate, amateur, and Olympic sports. I’m Mark Conrad or Prof. C from Fordham University's Gabelli School of Business, where I serve as Professor of Law and Ethics and the Director of the Sports Business Initiative. After a two-year saga, the Court of Arbitration for Sport rendered its verdict in the case of Russian Olympic figure skater Kamila Valieva. International sport’s

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Mark Conrad
leading adjudicative body concluded that she violated anti-doping rules and banned her from competition for four years. For Russia, it is the latest chapter in its decade long series of doping violations in its Olympic sports program. The result is that U.S. and Japan, originally the second and third placed teams, will now receive gold and silver medals. But the bronze medal winner is still uncertain, meaning that the conclusion of this sordid saga remains months away.

00;01;24;03 - 00;01;57;02
Mark Conrad
For Valieva, this is a scarlet letter on her short but storied career. Despite all the propaganda heard from the Russian sports establishment. Coming into the 2022 Olympic Winter Games, Valieva was the lodestar among a highly talented and dominant Russian women's figure skating group. During the team event in Beijing, Valieva, at age 15, became the first woman in history to complete a quadruple jump.

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Mark Conrad
She helped lead her team to a gold medal with a point total considerably 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 prohibited substance trimetazidine, a drug normally used to treat heart related conditions.

00;02;24;11 - 00;02;54;29
Mark Conrad
She claimed she ingested it after her grandfather prepared a strawberry dessert on the same chopping board that he used to crush his medication. In other words, it was accidentally taken by her. The substance was discovered in a lab test administered five weeks before the Olympics after the Russian National Championships. But for some reason, the lab, located in Sweden, failed to report the finding until the Beijing Games were underway.

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Mark Conrad
Valieva did not contest the fact that the substance was present, but argued that she did not intend to take it. It was no surprise that the Russian Anti-Doping Agency, with a history of utilizing methods to evade doping rules, cleared her to continue competing. That decision was appealed by the International Skating Union and the World Anti-Doping Agency, known as WADA.

00;03;22;00 - 00;03;52;12
Mark Conrad
An arbitration hearing occurred in Beijing on the question of whether she could compete before a final determination could be made. The panel concluded she could, in large part because she was only 15 and deemed a quote, “protected person” unquote, due to her young age and the potential adverse effect of her not competing for a medal before a final adjudication of her appeal was made by the panel.

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Mark Conrad
Indeed, she did compete, and what the world witnessed was a disastrous final skate with the presumptive gold medal favorite falling and stumbling. The result was a fourth place finish and a shocking putdown by her coach for everyone to see. When she left the rink in tears, her coach, Eteri Tutberidze, reprimanded her. “Why did you let it go?”

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Mark Conrad
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 Committee President Thomas Bach. “It was chilling to see this,” he said. Months later, the hearing on the merits of her claim was held and almost two years after the incident, the Court of Arbitration for Sport rendered its decision.

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Mark Conrad
The panel rejected Valieva’s argument that she was not at fault. “Too many shortcomings in the evidence and too many unanswered questions,” said the ruling. The panel also rejected an argument by the Russian doping agency that her penalty should be less than the required four year ban for doping violations because of her age. Therefore, she is prohibited from competition for four years, retroactive to the date of the test, which was December 25th, 2021.

00;05;18;18 - 00;05;58;11
Mark Conrad
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, third and fourth would be bumped up and would receive medals for the team competition, with the U.S. winning the gold. A happy moment for the U.S. team, which includes men's singles skaters 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 Hubbell and Zachary Donohue.

00;05;58;14 - 00;06;30;13
Mark Conrad
But not so fast. Canada, which originally placed fourth, seeks to receive a bronze medal, claiming the violation disqualified the entire Russian team. The International Skating Union, instead of eliminating Russia entirely, simply deleted the points Valieva earned in that team event, which meant that Russia barely edged Canada for that bronze. This decision by the Skating's International Federation may have violated its own rules regarding doping penalties.

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Mark Conrad
One specific provision states, “An anti-doping rules violation committed by a member of a team, occurring during or in connection with an Event may lead to disqualification of all the results obtained by the team in that Event with all Consequences for the team and its members, including forfeiture of all medals, points and prizes.” But note the word “may” rather than “must”.

00;06;58;00 - 00;07;26;08
Mark Conrad
So Canada is appealing the Skating Federation's determination in that same arbitral body, and who knows how long it's going to take. The result of this mess means that the teams from the U.S., Japan and possibly Canada were 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 notoriety of winning the gold medal.

00;07;26;10 - 00;07;51;04
Mark Conrad
There was talk of awarding the medals at the Paris Olympics, but due to the Skating Union’s decision to 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 guaranteed of the gold and silver medals. So even if Canada's appeal is not determined by July, the U.S. athletes should not wait any longer.

00;07;51;11 - 00;08;17;24
Mark Conrad
Give them the medals in Paris. Finally, a word about the Russian Olympic Committee's reaction to Valieva’s suspension. Among other rants, it said, “War has been declared on Russian sports.” An ironic statement coming from a committee representing a government that started a real war in Ukraine. After this sad saga, can these coaches and officials be proud of what happened?

00;08;17;26 - 00;08;57;19
Mark Conrad
Why weren't they punished but only Valieva? And like in the battle days of Soviet sports, are these young athletes indispensable as cogs in a state sponsored system that extolls the glories of Vladimir Putin's government? Any thoughts send them to me at [email protected]. Thank you for listening. Until next time, this is Prof. C for the Gabelli Sports Business Initiatives.