Russian figure skater Valieva loses last appeal in Beijing Olympics doping case

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva lost her last appeal on Thursday in a doping case that rocked the 2022 Beijing Olympics where she shaped to be a breakout star.

Swiss Federal Tribunal judges dismissed Valieva’s appeal to overturn a four-year ban imposed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport in January last year.

Valieva was ordered by the supreme court to pay 7,000 Swiss francs ($8,700) in costs and 8,000 Swiss francs ($10,000) to each of the World Anti-Doping Agency and the International Skating Union.

At CAS last year, Valieva also was disqualified from her events in Beijing that downgraded the Russians from gold to bronze medals in the team event, lifting the United States to Olympic champion. Those medals were finally presented at the Paris Summer Games.

Three CAS judges also rejected the argument by Valieva’s lawyers that her positive test for a banned heart medication — detected during the Olympics in a sample taken six weeks earlier at the Russian championships — was caused by contamination from a strawberry dessert made by her grandfather.

At the Swiss supreme court, Valieva’s lawyers presented an Associated Press news article from September 2024 to claim WADA engaged in “procedural fraud” to suppress evidence.

The article detailed experiments done in 2022 by a veteran scientist, at the request of Russian anti-doping officials, suggested contamination was not impossible. The scientist also said intentional use of the banned drug was the most plausible explanation.

Five Swiss federal judges stated in their verdict published on Thursday that the fresh arguments by Valieva’s team were conjecture and highly questionable, while the scientist’s report was not conclusive evidence.

Now aged 19, Valieva was allowed to resume training last week ahead of her ban expiring in December. She cannot qualify to compete in Milan in February at the 2026 Winter Olympics.

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AP Winter Olympics at https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics