The International Olympic Committee on Tuesday responded to criticism over its decision to withhold the awarding of medals in events won by a Russian figure skater at the center of doping questions.
A Swiss court has cleared the skater, Kamila Valieva, 15, to compete in the women’s singles event on Tuesday night, despite failing a test for banned substances in December.
The I.O.C., in response, had announced on Monday that, until investigations are complete, there would be no medal ceremony in the event if Valieva, the clear favorite, finished among the top three competitors.
The message from I.O.C. officials on Tuesday was clear, if potentially unsatisfactory to critics: They sympathize with the other athletes who would get no podium ceremony; they don’t know all the details of the case; they said they tried their best.
“You must understand, it would be very difficult to allocate medals based on a situation that is not final, because there is a fair chance you would not give the right medal to the right team,” said Denis Oswald, an I.O.C. executive board member.
Regarding the other competitors, who will lose the privilege of a proper medal ceremony, he said: “The damage for them is not irreparable, even if we fully understand that it’s not exactly the same if you get your medal at the Games or later on.”
In defending herself, Valieva suggested the positive result stemmed from a case of contamination that “happened with a product her grandfather was taking,” Oswald told The Associated Press and other media outlets.
Valieva helped Russia to win gold in the team event last week, shortly before authorities were informed of the positive test result. She was cleared to continue competing at these Games by the Court of Arbitration for Sport on Monday because, it said, she was a minor and she was not responsible for the slow delivery of the result by a laboratory in Sweden. The ruling also cited what it called the potential for “irreparable harm” if they pulled her from competition.
The question of her eligibility will be determined in the months following the Games, at which point her results from these Olympics could be disqualified.
Oswald was asked about the growing chorus of critics who claimed the organization was too soft on Russia, which was found to have engaged in a large-scale, state-sponsored doping scheme during the 2014 Sochi Olympics it hosted. Many athletes also have argued that the inclusion of Valieva in the event this week undermined the perception of clean competition at the Games.
“It’s surprising that people from all over the world have opinions and comments on a case where we ourselves don’t have the details,” he said. “It’s very easy to criticize without knowing the situation. We have tried to do our best to apply the principles of justice, due process, respect of the law. It’s part of our job to be criticized. That’s quite normal nowadays. But we can’t do more than we have done. We have tried our best.”
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