Skater Valieva returns to competition this weekend in Russia

The young Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva, protagonist during the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics due to a controversial case of doping, will return to the competition this weekend, the Russian press reported.

It will be at an event that will bring together the Russian elite excluded from international competitions. According to the sports newspaper Sport Express, Valieva (15 years old) will participate in the second edition of the Pervy Kanal Cup, which will take place from Friday to Sunday in Saransk, 500 kilometers south-east of Moscow.

Among her rivals, she will mainly include her training partner Anna Shcherbakova, who was proclaimed Olympic champion in Beijing in February.

The Russian Skating Federation had announced in mid-March that it would reschedule the Pervy Kanal Cup (25-27 March) to coincide with the 2022 World Cup, which is also taking place this week in Montpellier.

Neither Russian nor Belarusian competitors can be in the French city, excluded from all events by the International Skating Federation (ISU), after the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.

Valieva has not competed since the 2022 Olympic Games in February, where in the free program she had a bad performance that made her fourth, outside the medals.

In Beijing-2022, Valieva had started by participating in Russia's victory in the team event.

However, shortly after it became known that at the end of December he had tested positive for trimetazidine in a control within the framework of the Russian championship.

He was authorized by the Sports Arbitration Tribunal (TAS) to participate in the individual event.

When she is less than 16 years old, Valieva is exposed to punishment that ranges from a simple reprimand to two years of suspension. The procedure may take several months.

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