“The process in the case before the CAS was delayed by Valieva’s lawyers. She consciously decided to compete, despite the stress. » – Bestemyanova

Olympic figure skating champion Natalya Bestemyanova believes that Kamila Valieva I consciously decided to compete despite the stress of the TAS case.

On Friday, it became known that the hearings in the Kamila Valieva case before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) have been completed. A final decision is expected by the end of January 2024.

“Everyone understood that, in the best case scenario, a decision after hearings would be taken at the beginning of 2024.” This is the best result. It was clear that there would be unnecessary stress, she knew this and consciously decided to compete. Yes, the process is not rapid: big changes are at stake; if she is found guilty, too many things can happen. It’s good that they are working out all the details and, as far as I know, it was not someone else who delayed the process, but their lawyers. “I believe in a fair result,” Bestemyanova told .

Valieva, 17, will perform at the Russian Grand Prix in Kazan on November 11-12.

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. The award ceremony for the Olympic medalists in the team tournament has not yet taken 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. The first CAS hearings took place from September 26 to 28, after which the court decided to resume them on November 9 and 10 due to the need to prepare additional documents.