Valieva is "innocent and clean," her coach declared

Sunday's hearing could determine whether Russian figure skating star Camilla Valeva is allowed to continue to compete in the Olympics.

Russian figure skating star Kamila Valieva returned to the ice rink on Saturday on a practice track, completing one quadruple after another as she prepares for a match that may soon be played. forbidden.

The 15-year-old was revealed in December that she had made a questionable status at the Olympics after she tested positive for a banned drug in December, a finding that if it hadn't been delayed more than six weeks — could have left her ineligible for the Beijing race.

"This is a very complex and controversial situation," Valeva's coach, Etri Tutberidze, told Russia's state-run television network Channel One on Saturday in her first public comments on the case. "There are many questions, but very few answers."

Despite these unknowns, Tutberidze was quick to add, "I would like to say that we absolutely believe that Camilla is innocent and clean." ”

The legal battle over Valieva's eligibility will continue on Sunday, when a hearing will be held before a panel of the Court of Arbitration for Sport. The court said in a statement that a ruling was expected on Monday afternoon, the day before the women's short show began.

The panel of arbitrators will consider appeals from several groups, including the World Anti-Doping Agency, the International Olympic Committee and the International Skating Union, which have challenged russia's decision to lift the Russian Anti-Doping Agency's decision to lift Valieva's temporary ban.

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The Russian Anti-Doping Agency said it received a positive test from Valeva on Monday, the same day valjeva led the Russian team to a gold medal in the team event. On Tuesday, shortly before the medals were awarded in the team competition, she suspended the match but lifted the penalty a day later.

In her comments to Channel One, Tutberidze said she wasn't sure how Valieva was allowed to play in the Olympics in the first place. It took more than six weeks for a laboratory in Stockholm to report that traces of a banned drug, trimetazidine, were found in a Valieva urine sample submitted on December 25, which is thought to increase endurance.

Russian officials were quick to defend Valeva, who was the favourite to win the gold medal in women's singles. Oleg Matytsin, Russia's sports minister, said he had spoken with Valeva twice and said "convincingly, she is completely innocent." Tutberidze raised new questions about the delayed test results, saying: "It's either a fateful situation or a well-conceived plan." I hope that our officials will not abandon us, defend our rights and prove our innocence. ”

On social media, several retired Olympic skaters expressed outrage over Valieva's positive test and the damage it caused to figure skating during its figure skating competition. Johnny Weir, a two-time Olympian who now serves as an analyst at NBC, called it "devastating to my sport."

Other skaters expressed concern that Valieva faces serious consequences due to the actions of the adults around her. Katarina Witt, a two-time Olympic champion from Germany, wrote that Valieva was a minor and should not be held responsible for what happened.

"Responsible adults should be forever barred from participating in the sport!!!" Witt wrote on Facebook. "What they deliberately did to her, if true, was unsurpassable inhumane and made my athlete's heart cry infinitely."

In an Instagram post, Adam Rippon, a 2018 Olympic bronze medalist and current coach of U.S. Olympian Mariah Bell, criticized adults from the IOC to Valieva, and no one else who could put Valieva's "athletic performance ahead of anyone else." Her health and well-being. ”

"They ruined her and everyone here's Olympic experience," he wrote.

After Valeva practiced, representatives of the Russian team escorted her past tv cameras and photographers, trying to protect her as if they were letting a pop star pass by the paparazzi. She laughed, but remained silent.

A Russian journalist asked, "Camilla, how do you feel?" How are you feeling? What's your situation? As she finished clearing the area, she let out a nervous laugh.

On Saturday, the women's figure skater who practiced before and after Valieva declined to discuss her situation.

"I know something is going on, but I just don't want to put it in my head," said Eliska Brezinova of the Czech Republic, who said she was deliberately watching other events, including hockey and speed skating.

Alysa Liu, a 16-year-old girl from the United States, said: "It's a little strange that this happens. You wouldn't expect it to happen in a big game. Several other skaters, including U.S. national champion Maria Bell and Canadian madeleine Chizas, said they saw the doping case as another disruption from the pandemic over the past few years. Schizas says she keeps her brain busy by looking at social media.

"What kind of 18-year-old girl doesn't like her social media time?" She said she expressed disappointment that TikTok could not be used in China.

Valieva's Olympic experience begins with every athlete's dream. In the team stage, she set a world record in the short show, and in the long show, she became the first woman to complete the quadruple long jump at the Olympics. (She later got a second in the same way.) Her extraordinary elegance and athleticism immediately made her one of these Olympic faces.

On Saturday, however, more than 40 percent of journalists crowded into the practice range to prepare for her practice match, while a large group of photographers pointed their lenses at her for completely different reasons.

She shares the ice with another skater, her teammate Anna Shcherbakova, who is also Totberidze's coach. When Valieva jumped off and spun dramatically twice on the ice, the camera shutter clicked. But for most of her training, she was a jumping machine, completing at least six quadruple jumps as if her body had been pre-set.

After one of her runs, Valeva met Tut Berryezer on the edge of the ice rink. Before Valieva leaned over Tutberidze for a hug, the two talked almost face to face.

The coach hugged her and then looked at her.

Shcherbakova will soon be a favourite for gold, and she's dancing on the ice.