Kamila Valieva says she is emotionally exhausted because of doping scandal

Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva said that she was emotionally tired of the doping scandal, in which she found herself at the Beijing Olympics.

"These days have been very hard for me, there are not enough emotions. I am happy, but I am emotionally tired. There are tears of happiness and grief a little. But, of course, I am happy to be at the Olympics. I will try to represent our country and I hope that I will be as motivated as possible to show a good result,” said Valieva.

According to the athlete, she saw all the good wishes, and even banners in her support in the streets of Moscow.

"It is very nice, in such a difficult time, this support is very important to me. I thought I would be alone, but my close people will never leave me,” Kamila Valieva said.

She also spoke about CAS hearings:

"I was there for seven hours, we had one break for 20 minutes, and I was sitting and watching. It was very difficult. Apparently, this is one of the stages that I have to go through," Valieva said.

Kamila Valieva's mother: Grandfather could be guilty

Kamila Valieva's mother Alsu Valieva and lawyer Anna Kozmenko spoke at court during the hearings of the skater's case. They said that the concentration of trimetazidine, which was found in the athlete's doping sample, was negligibly small. It was her grandfather, who may have caused the substance to end up in Kamila's body, they said. He could allegedly drink something from a glass, having left traces of his saliva on the glass before Kamila drank from the glass as well.

Kamila's grandfather has an artificial heart: he takes the drug when he hears noises in it. Kamila's grandfather lives 40 kilometers from the athlete's house in Moscow. He takes his granddaughter to training sessions every day or stays with her at times while her parents are not at home.

Experts do not believe this version. Trimetazidine comes available in film-coated tablets or capsules. The drug can only dissolve in the intestines. The only way to transfer the active substance to another person is through vomiting, experts believe.

Kamila Valieva: The biggest star of the Beijing Olympics

As part of the Russian team, Kamila Valieva won the team tournament at the Beijing Olympics. After the end of the competition, it became known that there was a banned substance found in her doping test (the sample was taken back in December 2021). Valieva had to seek admission to the personal tournament in Beijing through the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

The International Olympic Committee (IOC), the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the International Skating Union (ISU) filed appeals against the decision of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) to lift temporary suspension from Valieva. The CAS sided with the 15-year-old figure skater.

The IOC announced on February 14 that the awards ceremony following the team tournament in Beijing would not take place due to the fact that Valieva's case had not been closed yet. The CAS made a decision only in relation to the skater's admission; the court did not consider the medals issue. RUSADA will handle further proceedings on Valieva's doping test.

If Kamila Valieva gets on the podium in the individual tournament, which will take place on February 15 and 17, there will also be no awards ceremony held either.

Irina Rodnina: Why does Russia make such huge mistakes?

Irina Rodnina, a three-time Olympic champion, currently a State Duma deputy, spoke harshly about the situation with figure skater Kamila Valieva.

"The situation with Kamila Valieva is a huge scandal for our sport, and most importantly, we don't know what the consequences will be. Why is Russia so disliked? I have another question: why does Russia make so many mistakes? How many medals have we lost because of doping? About 40 medals!” Rodnina said, RB Sport reports.

Russia makes mistakes that are unacceptable in sports, and does not draw any conclusions from it afterwards, Irina Rodnina added.

"I'm afraid there will be tougher decisions in the future. For example, Russia can be banned from next Olympics entirely,” Rodnina added.