Kamila Valieva: Russian skater in doping scandal, what is trimetazidine drug - will she compete at Winter Olympics?

Kamila Valieva has been told that she will now be able to compete in Beijing at the Winter Olympics following her previous suspension after failing a drugs test.

The 15-year-old figure skater - who became the first female to land a quadruple jump at an Olympics in the team event - returned a positive test for angina-prevention drug trimetazidine on 25 December and was consequently provisionally suspended on 8 February but after challenging the decision, the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (Rusada) lifted the ban the following day.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC), World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the International Skating Union subsequently launched an appeal against the decision to list the provisional suspension but the sport’s highest court has now ruled against this.

As a result of the hearing - which lasted nearly six hours - Wada is expressed their disappointment by saying it “appears that the Cas panel decided not to apply the terms of the Code, which does not allow for specific exceptions to be made in relation to mandatory provisional suspensions for ‘protected persons’, including minors”

Wada has also continued by saying it shall continue investigating the teenager’s entourage, including Valieva’s coaches, doctors and other adults around her while the actual matter of the failed test is yet to be resolved.

Former 1988 Olympic Figure skating Champion Tara Lipinski tweeted that she “strongly disagrees with this decision. At the end of the day, there was a positive test and there is no question in my mind that she should not be allowed to compete. Regardless of age or timing of the test/results. I believe this will leave a permanent scar on our sport.”

There will continue to be wider debates given a Russian has tested positive for a banned substance while the country is already banned from international competition due to its doping past.

The 212 Russian delegation competing in Beijing is part of the Russian Olympic Committee and is without its national anthem as part of the sanctions.

What was said after the hearing?

At around 2.10 local time in Beijing this morning (Monday 14 February), Valieva was told by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) that they had considered “fundamental principles of fairness, proportionality, irreparable harm, and the relative balance of interests between the applicants and the athlete, who did not test positive during th eOlympic Games…and is still subject to a disciplinary procedure.

The panel considered that preventing the athlete from competing at the Olympic Games would cause her irreparable harm in these circumstances.”

CAS ruled ‘exceptional circumstances’, meaning that Valieva should not be provisionally suspended for failing her drugs test.

CAS cited the age of the 15-year-old skater as well as the timing of the test result announcement as the reasons for its ruling.

Matthew Reeb, the CAS director general, said: “The athlete should benefit from the following exceptional circumstances: She is under 16 and a protected person under the Wada code.”

The ruling also said: “serious issues of untimely notification of the results” of the failed test also played a part in the decision.

The test came during after the commencement of the Games and nearly six weeks after the sample had been given.

“Such late notification was not her fault, in the middle of the Olympic Winter Games.”

The Cas hearing was not to look into the failed test of its circumstances but whether to reimpose a provisional ban or back the Rusada decision to lift it.

What is trimetazidine?

Trimetazidine is listed in Wada as a prohibited substance under the category of ‘hormone and metabolic modulators’ and the use of it is prohibited at all times: “in-and-out-of competition.”

It is a drug usually prescribed as a long-term treatment of angina pectoris, and in some countries, such as France, for tinnitus and dizziness.

Controlled studies of angina patients show that trimetazidine increases the coronary flow reserve which in turn delays the onset of ischemia associated with exercise, limits rapid swings in blood pressure without any significant variations in heart rate, significantly decreases the frequency of angina attacks and leads to a significant decrease in the use of nitrates.

Who else has used Trimetazidine?

In 2014, the Chinese Olympic Champion swimmer Sun Yang tested positive for the drug which had been banned just four months earlier.

Sun was then banned by the Chinese Swimming Association for three months. In 2015, WADA reclassified and downgraded trimetazidine from a ‘stimulant’ to a ‘modulator of cardiac metabolism’.

When will Valieva compete?

Valieva is now free to compete in the women’s individual figure skating competition on Tuesday 15 February, where she is a firm favourite for a gold medal.

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