Valieva is psychologically ready to perform on the stage of the Russian Grand Prix in Kazan, says Goncharenko

Honored Figure Skating Coach of Russia Inna Goncharenko believes that Kamila Valieva I am psychologically ready to participate in the fourth stage of the Russian Grand Prix in Kazan.

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. On Saturday, the athlete will perform a short program on the stage in Kazan.

“I think she is absolutely ready psychologically, because she has already experienced something similar, being younger and less prepared – I mean the Olympics. Now I think psychologically she is quite resistant to such problems .

I expect a solid performance from her. We saw during the skating tests that this season she has very interesting short and free programs, she reveals herself in a new way. And now they will be even better developed. Viewers and specialists therefore hope to see it armed at full strength. I don’t want to make predictions; after all, athletes are superstitious people. But I think she is ready both psychologically and physically,” Goncharenko said, as quoted by Gazeta.Ru.

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.

Gazeta.ru