“Can you imagine what 4 years without sport means for a 17-year-old girl? No one else received such punishment. » Chesnokov – about Valieva

Former Soviet and Russian tennis player Andrei Chesnokov said in an interview with that he did not understand why the figure skater Kamila Valieva punished so severely.

At the end of January, the CAS suspended Valieva for four years for violating anti-doping rules. The 17-year-old Russian’s suspension period begins on December 25, 2021, and her results have been canceled since that date.

– Can you imagine that WADA punished a child for four years like that?! I looked: no one who was taken with the same medication has been disqualified for this length of time, but the child was suspended!

“Nevertheless, she doped and responsibility cannot be completely exonerated, at least from the coach.

– And what? Can you imagine what four years without sport mean for a 17-year-old girl? No one else received such a severe punishment. Why is that? I’m really sorry about Kamila.

— In tennis, the most famous doping scandal took place with Maria Sharapova, but it was not trimetazidine that was found in her home, but meldonium.

— I watched an interview with the creator of meldonium, Ivars Kalvins, and read articles about this drug. Did you know that WADA cannot classify meldonium as doping, because it is not? This is why it is not called “doping”, but “banned drug”. I have read a lot and I can say that even if you take a hundred tablets of meldonium, you will not run any faster. It has nothing to do with doping. I eat food, it gives me energy and strength to move, so it’s also doping?! Meldonium neutralizes lactic acid that appears in muscles after exercise, thereby reducing the risk of heart attacks and other heart diseases, Chesnokov told .

The CAS decision led to a review of the results of the team figure skating tournament at the 2022 Olympics, where the Russian team won. First place is now awarded to the American team, the Japanese are second and the Russians will receive bronze.