“Lessons have been learned from Valieva’s case. » WADA reminded anti-doping organizations of the priority of analyzing urgent samples before the Olympic Games

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) made the necessary conclusions after the situation of the figure skater Kamila Valieva and reminded national anti-doping organizations that it is important to monitor the progress of urgent sample testing in laboratories before the 2024 Games, the organization’s press service reports.

At the Russian Championships in December 2021, Valieva tested positive for a banned drug: trimetazidine. The figure skater’s doping case was revealed during the Beijing Olympics, when the Russian team, of which Valieva was a part, had already won the team tournament.

“It is important that athletes are tested all year round and until they leave for major competitions. The weeks and months leading up to the Games are a period of increased risk of possible doping. It is therefore important to be able to carry out checks at the optimal time, which can be very close to the start of the Games.

Anti-doping organizations should ask WADA-accredited laboratories to prioritize the analysis of urgent samples and agree on a time frame for receiving results. If results have not yet been received, they should contact the laboratories to confirm when they will be available.

Lessons have been learned since the incident involving figure skater Kamila Valieva in 2022, and WADA recently reminded anti-doping organizations of this important requirement to avoid the recurrence of similar cases, WADA said in a statement.

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

Based on this decision, the International Skating Union (ISU) revised the results of the Olympic team tournament and moved the Russian team from first to third place.