IOC strikes back: no medal ceremonies for Kamila Valieva in Beijing

BEIJING — While the International Olympic Committee accepted the decision allowing Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva to compete, the governing body made it clear that the 15-year-old has not been let off the hook.

There will be no medal ceremony — or even a flower ceremony on the ice — in Beijing if Valieva places in the top three in the women’s skating event at the 2022 Winter Olympic Games. She is the overwhelming favorite.

In addition, there will be no medal ceremony in Beijing for the team event, in which Valieva led the Russian Olympic Committee team to the gold medal.

Instead, the IOC said “dignified medal ceremonies” will be organized once Valieva’s doping case has been concluded.

The United States won the silver medal in the team event with Japan taking the bronze.

The Ad Hoc Division of the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled Mondaythat Valieva should not be provisionally suspended despite a positive test for a banned substance on Dec. 25. The skater’s status as a “protected person” under age 16 contributed to the ruling.

The IOC Executive Board, after consulting with the National Olympic Committees concerned, declared that in the “interest of fairness to all athletes and the NOCs concerned, it would not be appropriate to hold the medal ceremony” for the team event during the Winter Games “as it would include an athlete who on the one hand has a positive A-sample, but whose violation of the anti-doping rules has not yet been established on the other hand.”

The IOC has stressed that the CAS ruling was limited to the sole question of whether Valieva could be provisionally suspended from Olympic competition. Due process, the IOC said, must still be followed to determine if Valieva will eventually be sanctioned.

Also for reasons of fairness, the IOC has requested that a 25th competitor participate in the free skating part of he event on Feb. 17 in case Valieva is ranked in the top 24 of the short program — which she undoubtedly will be. Only 24 skaters typically advance to the free skate.

In its ruling, CAS said a provisional suspension of Valieva “would cause irrreparable harm.”

Matthieu Reeb, Sport Director General of CAS, said the panel of arbitrators “was concerned that if a provisional suspension would be imposed on the athlete and later at the end of the day after the completion of all procedures, she would not be  sanctioned or have a very low sanction, the provisional suspension would have caused serious damage.”