Kamila Valieva.Photo: Lintao Zhang/Getty
An alleged positive drug test from a Russian figure skating team member has delayed the medal ceremony for the first-place team at the2022 Winter Olympicsin Beijing.
According toReuters, 15-year-old Kamila Valieva tested positive for a banned substance, which Russian news outlets identified asTrimetazidine. The drug is used to treat angina, a condition that causes severe pain in the chest.
Including Valieva, five other members of the Russian team were scheduled to receive a gold medal during Tuesday night’s ceremony — 18-year-old men’s competitor Mark Kondratiuk; ice dancers Victoria Sinitsina, 26, and Nikita Katsalapov, 30; and pairs skaters Anastasia Mishina, 20, and Aleksandr Galliamov, 22.
The ceremony was ultimately canceled due to what the International Olympic Committee (IOC) called an “emerging issue” that requires “legal consultation with the International Skating Union,” spokesman Mark Adams said during a press conference on Wednesday, according toCNN.
“We will be doing our level utmost to make sure it is resolved as quickly as possible, but as you know legal issues can sometimes drag on,” he added.
Neither the IOC nor the International Testing Agency immediately responded to PEOPLE’s request for comment regarding the situation.
Jean Catuffe/Getty
“I believe that I am coping with this pressure,” Valieva said after her performance, according to theWashington Post. “And sometimes it even pushes me forward. It helps me.”
“I had this burden of responsibility,” she added, “but I came out a winner.”
A Russian spokesperson Dmitry Peskov urged patience when asked about the situation.
The United States went on to win silver in the event, while Japan claimed bronze. If the Russian team is disqualified, it remains to be seen whether fourth-place Canada will be promoted into the top three.
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This isn’t the first time a Russian athlete has been linked to banned substances.
Forthe third Olympics in a row, Russian athletes are competing for the “Russian Olympic Committee,” and not the country as a whole.
To learn more about Team USA, visitTeamUSA.org. Watch the Winter Olympics, now, and the Paralympics, beginning March 4, on NBC.
source: people.com
