Romashina, seven-time Olympic synchronized swimming champion, supported Valieva after CAS decision

Seven-time Olympic synchronized swimming champion Svetlana Romachina expressed support for the Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva following a decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

On Monday, the CAS suspended Valieva for four years for violating anti-doping rules. The court release noted that the skater was unable to provide convincing evidence that the violation was unintentional. The athlete’s disqualification period begins on December 25, 2021 and their results from this date will be canceled. This led to a review of the results of the 2022 Olympic 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.

— Without entering into discussions on the politicization of the verdict, without evaluating the legality, validity, fairness (I do not know the decision itself and/or the documents in the file) of the judicial act, I would like to express my support, first of all, to Kamila herself!

For me, she was and always will be an outstanding figure skater, the strongest athlete, despite her young age! I would also like to support our team, which was deprived of Olympic gold. Well done guys, they did everything in their power to win, gave their fans unforgettable impressions and the brightest emotions, for which we thank them very much!

I want to emphasize that despite what happened, we must remain one team and our strength lies in unity! I encourage everyone to join us and post their photos with the hashtag #OurGold! — Romashina wrote on the Telegram channel.