Russian Skater's Positive Drug Test Delaying Medal Presentation for Team Event: Reports

Kamila Valieva reportedly tested positive for a banned substance, causing the postponement of a medal ceremony during the Beijing Olympics

Kamila Valieva
Kamila Valieva. Photo: Lintao Zhang/Getty

An alleged positive drug test from a Russian figure skating team member has delayed the medal ceremony for the first-place team at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.

According to Reuters, 15-year-old Kamila Valieva tested positive for a banned substance, which Russian news outlets identified as Trimetazidine. The drug is used to treat angina, a condition that causes severe pain in the chest.

Including Valieva, five other members of the Russian team were scheduled to receive a gold medal during Tuesday night's ceremony — 18-year-old men's competitor Mark Kondratiuk; ice dancers Victoria Sinitsina, 26, and Nikita Katsalapov, 30; and pairs skaters Anastasia Mishina, 20, and Aleksandr Galliamov, 22.

The ceremony was ultimately canceled due to what the International Olympic Committee (IOC) called an "emerging issue" that requires "legal consultation with the International Skating Union," spokesman Mark Adams said during a press conference on Wednesday, according to CNN.

"We will be doing our level utmost to make sure it is resolved as quickly as possible, but as you know legal issues can sometimes drag on," he added.

Neither the IOC nor the International Testing Agency immediately responded to PEOPLE's request for comment regarding the situation.

Kamila Valieva
Jean Catuffe/Getty

During the Beijing Games, which began on Feb. 4, Valieva became the first woman to land a quad in Olympic history. The move has been described as one of the hardest jumps in all of figure skating.

"I believe that I am coping with this pressure," Valieva said after her performance, according to the Washington Post. "And sometimes it even pushes me forward. It helps me."

"I had this burden of responsibility," she added, "but I came out a winner."

A Russian spokesperson Dmitry Peskov urged patience when asked about the situation.

"Let's, for the sake of understanding, wait for some explanations either from our sports officials or from the IOC," Peskov said, as reported by ESPN.

The United States went on to win silver in the event, while Japan claimed bronze. If the Russian team is disqualified, it remains to be seen whether fourth-place Canada will be promoted into the top three.

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This isn't the first time a Russian athlete has been linked to banned substances.

For the third Olympics in a row, Russian athletes are competing for the "Russian Olympic Committee," and not the country as a whole.

That's because the country was given an anti-doping penalty partially upheld by the International Court of Arbitration for Sport in 2020, following reports that Russia was engaged in sometimes elaborate state-sponsored doping at the 2012 and 2014 Olympics.

To learn more about Team USA, visit TeamUSA.org. Watch the Winter Olympics, now, and the Paralympics, beginning March 4, on NBC.

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