Zhurova believes there is a bias in the Valieva case due to the Russians winning the team tournament at the 2022 Games

Deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation, Olympic champion in speed skating Svetlana Zhurova believes that in the case of the Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva there is a bias due to the victory of the Russian team in the team competition at the Beijing Olympics.

On Tuesday, the International Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) announced that it considers the findings of the Anti-Doping Disciplinary Commission of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (DAK RUSADA) in the case of Valieva to be incorrect and that it will use the right of appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). The AMA demands that the 16-year-old skater be disqualified for four years and void all results from the date of sampling – December 25, 2021.

– If in such situations the athlete has been acquitted, the following must also be acquitted. Camila’s case seems quite politicized precisely for this reason. A lot of times, athletes in similar cases were not punished, and if they were suspended, that was the minimum period.

Other mechanisms come into play here. If Kamila is punished for four years, one year or disqualified, other teams climb to the top step of the podium and Russia will lose first place in the team competition. There may be a bias here,” Zhurova said on .

Valieva at the Beijing Olympics helped the Russian team win gold in team competitions. Before the personal tournament, it became known that the illegal drug trimetazidine was discovered during the doping test of the Russian championship figure skater. The CAS allowed the Russian woman to participate in the individual competitions of the Games.