“The head of USADA understands that Valieva will be acquitted based on the practice of similar cases” – Zhurova

The head of the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), Travis Tygart, understands that the Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva will be acquitted in the doping case, since in such cases the athletes regained their rights, the Olympic champion and deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation told . Svetlana Jourova .

Hearings in the Valieva case before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) will resume on November 9 and 10. Tygart, commenting on the length of the proceedings, said that “this is a continuation of the travesty that has undermined athletes’ confidence in the system.” According to him, “justice has not only been denied to the athletes who have been waiting for their medals for almost two years, but it has been defeated.”

— Does Tygart already know that there will be a decision in favor of Valieva? Judging by his rhetoric. Tygart understands that this will happen, because in similar cases in the United States, athletes have been suspended for a period of time due to microdosing (of a banned substance), but then had their rights fully restored. He understands that if these facts are brought up now, Kamila Valieva will be among those acquitted. If she is not acquitted, it will only be an exception in such cases,” Zhurova told .

At the 2022 Beijing Olympics, Valieva helped the Russian team win gold in the team competition. Before the personal tournament, it became known that the banned drug trimetazidine was found during the doping test of the figure skater of the Russian championship. The CAS admitted the Russian to the individual competitions of the Games, where she took fourth place.

In January this year, the Russian Anti-Doping Agency’s Anti-Doping Disciplinary Committee (DAK RUSADA) ruled that although Valieva had committed an anti-doping rule violation, she bore “no fault or negligence.” The athlete avoided sanctions, except for the cancellation of his results on the date of sample collection – December 25, 2021. Subsequently, RUSADA, the International Skating Union (ISU) and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) filed appeals to CAS, which were consolidated into one proceeding.