The results do not get released unless there is something illegal found that would warrant a ban.
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Iâm sure she was tested at the Olympics. Athletes are tested at international events all the time, especially the top ones. When my daughter skated some girls would have big t-shirts in their bags so they could cover up when doing their tests since there is not a lot of privacy and you canât go to the bathroom in a skating dress without taking it all the way down. And the tests were usually done right after the short program. But, thatâs not the issue. Because of that test she should not have been at the Olympics at all. And taking a banned performance medication that helps with your training when other athletes arenât given that advantage is not OK either.
And news has come out that she had 3 medications in her system that are known to increase endurance. It wasnât just that one drug, but the others are not banned, just controversial. But it seems pretty clear she was taking a cocktail of medication that would allow her to practice longer and harder than her competitors in training. And the levels of the banned drug in her system are higher than you would expect from just a casual exposure from her grandfather.
The issue with the timing of the results is that Russia was supposed to mark the test as a priority and they did not. So the lab did not rush it and I believe they are saying covid caused a back up.
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Thank you for this clear explanation.
ReallyâŠthe issue isâŠ.they delayed getting the results from DecemberâŠ.maybe they knewâŠ
In the past, other athletes who tested positive for this substance got very short bans, and theoretically she could have received a very short ban due to this being her first positive test, the nature of the substance, the concentration found, and her age - and a ban of one month would still allowed her to compete had her 12/25 sample been processed quickly. That is why she was not barred from competing.
It is absolutely disgusting that a coach would work her skaters to death and then give them a ârecovery supplementâ (not just illegal, but also of questionable value) so they could be in the ice 12 hours a day, 7 days a week.
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Who knows. I just hope when this is all over there are answers for what exactly happened.
Itâs just too bad the test result did not come back on time so this could have been dealt with then. The way it was handled just messed up the Olympics for all those involved.
The World Championships are coming up in a month. It will be interesting to see if they will try to get this cleared up by then and if so, whether or not sheâll skate. Some skaters choose not to skate at Worlds in an Olympic year but if sheâs cleared, or does not get a long suspension, she might want redemption.
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It sounds like there is a lot questionable about her techniques. From what Iâve heard, their weight is monitored daily and they are not allowed to even drink anything the day of competition to keep their weight down. The last Olympic gold medalist from there had to get treatment for an eating disorder. Itâs also said they take things to delay puberty to keep themselves tiny for as long as possible. Not to mention the physical toll on their bodies from training that hard for long periods of time. But, I guess if you want to win at any costâŠ
I just found the whole situation today very sad.
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I read (and linked up the thread) a couple of WaPo articles about this coach. I would not want my kids anywhere near her!
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The Olympics and the IOC are a farce. The ROC and/or Russia should be banned for the next Winter (Milan) and Summer (Paris) Olympics. And probably the only way to do that is for the sponsors to boycott until that happens.
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In sounds like in order to appeal a ban, the athlete has to provide some explanation of how they could have been unknowingly exposed to the substance in question. Texas tap water?! Sounds ridiculous, but per this article, the swimmer had to provide some answer in order to get the process going. Then it turned out it was a multivitamin. Yikes.
Right? Thatâs why the US tells itâs athletes not to take anything they donât absolutely need and if they are 100% sure whatâs in it. Adan Rippon said this week they were told no vitamins. Itâs all just too risky.
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Who works and is in RUSADA? It seems like when your country has committed system wide doping that maybe you should have an outside group. In the past, a lot of suspensions have been by the countryâs anti doping group. RUSADA not immediately suspending her shows they arenât to be trusted.
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I watched the aftermath of the ladiesâ figure skating tonight (I turned it off after the event this morning). What a mess. I immediately felt bad for Kamila this morning, but after watching the events that unfolded afterwards, the gold medalist was really shortchanged. She sat alone, with no one to celebrate her victory with her. The silver medalist had a tantrum, and she got her teamâs attention. What was supposed to be a happy moment for Anna was a prolonged time of loneliness and confusion. It was a mess created by adults, none of whom seemed to be able to do the right thing when a skater tested positive for a banned substance.
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It was horrible and so sad. These girls worked so hard, and their joy was not there, particularly for the gold medal winner who looked so lost and alone.
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The adults completely failed these teens. 
Gosh, that coach is the real Cruella! Complete with her fur cuffs.
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From the NYT:
As the crowd responded with its loudest applause of the night, her blank expression returned. After a few halfhearted waves, she stepped off the ice to be greeted by her coach, Eteri Tutberidze. They did not hug.
âWhy did you let it go?â Tutberidze asked in Russian in a scene broadcast on live television. âWhy did you stop fighting? Explain it to me, why? You let it go after that axel.â
Valieva did not reply.
It was clarified by the commentators what âirreparable harmâ in the official statement meant: the officials worried about her mental health if she werenât allowed to skate. Well, what good did it do⊠it was a loss/loss situation from the beginning.
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It was all just so tragic. And imagine if the âBâ sample comes back negative? This entire situation was handled so poorly from the start. And while there are a lot of victims here, it was so difficult to watch those 3 girls today.
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I knew there would be drama, but this part was unexpected for me. That tantrum from the silver medalist! But hasnât the world of womenâs figure skating increasingly become a competition of jumpers? So she thought she had the most quads, therefore the gold medal should have been hers.
I happened to find an interesting 2-part series about the Russian âpuppy millâ for skaters on YouTube yesterday. Google âWhat is Happening to Womenâs Figure Skating?â to find it. There are 2 parts and now there will be a 3rd part on the doping issue.
The bright spot for me last night was Mariah Bellâs powerful freeskate.
And this is a good article about what happened yesterday:
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It doesnât seem they are disputing the result. Her handlers said she must have somehow accidentally taken her grandfatherâs medicine.
According to a document filed by WADA, Valievaâs lawyers have claimed she must have ingested trimetazidine accidentally by way of medication that her grandfather takes.
The whole thing sounds sketchy. In my opinion, it doesnât really matter whether she knowingly took it or her coaches convinced her to take it. This kind of thing must be discouraged by having a no tolerance policy. Saying she would be mentally harmed by being prevented from skating is mind boggling and just opens the door for further abuse-abuse of the system by the athletes or abuse of athletes by coaches.
The fact that it took so long for a Dec. 25 sample to be reported is absolutely absurd at this level of competition. Why wasnât the B sample immediately tested prior to the event here? The whole thing just reeksâŠ
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