“It will be difficult for Valieva to come back, but she will not be the first athlete to do so” – Herboldt

Figure skater Kamila Valieva It will be difficult to continue your career and return to competition after disqualification, but there have already been examples of athletes who succeeded in this, bronze medalist of the Russian Championship Katarina Gerboldt told .

On Friday, Valieva said she intends to continue her career after her suspension expires. In late January, the Court of Arbitration for Sport suspended Valieva for four years for violating anti-doping rules. The 18-year-old Russian’s suspension period begins on December 25, 2021, and her results have been canceled since that date.

— Will Valieva be able to continue her career after her disqualification ends?

– In any case, it depends on the athlete. If an athlete feels strong and motivated, then anything is possible in this life. It will certainly be difficult, but she will not be the first athlete to manage to come back after a long period.

— Will it be even more difficult to compete with young girls?

– Of course, it will be very difficult. Just like it used to be difficult for someone to compete with her when she was young,” Gerboldt told .

Due to the disqualification, Valieva was deprived of gold at the 2022 European Championship and the Russian team was deprived of gold at the team tournament of the 2022 Olympic Games. The International Skating Union redistributed the medals in the team competitions at the Beijing Olympics: the American team moved to first place, the Japanese took second, and the Russian team won the bronze medal.

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