Beijing Winter Olympics 2022: CAS rules Russian skater Kamila Valieva can compete

Russian skater Kamila Valieva has been cleared to compete in the women’s singles figure skating at the Beijing Olympics after a decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), sport’s top court, on Monday.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) released its ruling on Monday that the 15-year-old Valieva, the favorite for the women’s individual gold, does not need to be provisionally suspended ahead of a full investigation. The court gave her a favourable decision in part because she was a minor or “protected person” and was subject to different rules from an adult athlete.

The teen skating prodigy took to the ice half an hour after the decision, practising with her Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) team mates ahead of the singles on Tuesday.

“Let’s go Kamila!” Russian ice dancer Nikita Katsalapov said at the Capital Indoor Stadium after winning a silver medal and learning about the decision.

This ruling only addresses whether Valieva can keep skating before her case is resolved. It doesn’t decide the fate of the one gold medal that she has already won.

Valieva landed the first quadruple jumps by a woman at the Olympics when she won the team event gold with the Russian Olympic Committee on Monday. The United States took silver and Japan the bronze. Canada placed fourth. That medal, and any medal she wins in the individual competition, could still be taken from her.

Those issues will be dealt with in a separate, longer-term investigation of the positive doping test that will be led by RUSADA, which took the sample in St. Petersburg. The World Anti-Doping Agency will have the right to appeal an ruling by RUSADA. WADA has also said it wants to investigate Valieva’s entourage.