Alexander Tikhonov: “Valieva’s fate has been distorted, and it is the fault of her environment. I would rip everyone’s head off for her.

Quadruple Olympic biathlon champion Alexander Tikhonov told he has big questions about the Russian figure skater’s entourage Kamila Valieva which allowed the athlete to have doping problems.

On Monday, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) suspended Valieva for four years for violating anti-doping rules. The disqualification period begins on December 25, 2021. The International Skating Union (ISU) later announced that all of the athlete’s results from the date of sample collection had been canceled. This also led to a review of the results of the 2022 Olympics team tournament, where the Russian team won. First place is now awarded to the American team, the Japanese are second and the Russians will receive bronze.

– We have no friends, we were convinced of this for a long time. When I was head of the biathlon federation, everyone stood at attention. Now, which country treats us normally? Name at least one country. I had no doubt about the decision taken by the CAS. I would like to appeal to athletes: don’t listen to anyone, don’t let yourself down, it’s your destiny! Four years of disqualification is a lot.

One more thing. Since this is the current political situation, let’s organize games that will be better than the Olympics. Can’t medals be made from pure gold? Its own awards, prize money, Russian Open Championships. Everyone who wants to will come. There are huge opportunities in Russia, the Ivan Yarygin Cup took place the other day, there is no wrestling tournament in the world that would be next to the Krasnoyarsk competition. This suggests that in the country, including in the regions – Chelyabinsk, Omsk – there are opportunities to organize excellent competitions.

And for Valieva, I would rip their heads off. The girl’s destiny has been distorted, and it is the fault of her environment, and not of the skater herself. My generation was always told that during tournaments, under no circumstances could you drink water from an open bottle placed on the table. And over the past 30 years, none of the managers and coaches have been sanctioned for doping, which is why a law on doping must be adopted in the very near future. Valieva must face her surroundings and identify the culprit so that he can be punished. And the figure skater herself should receive compensation until the end of her days for her enchanting performance at the Olympics,” Tikhonov told .

Before the personal tournament at the Beijing Olympics, it became known that the banned drug trimetazidine was found during Valieva’s doping test at the Russian Championship. The CAS allowed the Russian to participate in the individual competitions at the Games, where she finished fourth, but this result was also annulled. The athlete also lost the title of European champion, the title went to Anna Shcherbakova.