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“It was because of the strawberry dessert my grandfather gave me”

Russian figure skating star Kamila Valieva (18), who was severely punished for taking banned substances, cited 'drug-contaminated strawberry dessert' as the reason for her positive doping test, but it was not accepted.

The International Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) published its decision against Valieva on the 7th (Korean time) on its official website.

According to him, Valieva “prepared her strawberry dessert using the cutting board her grandfather used to crush her pills.” This led to her testing positive for a banned substance,” she claimed.

Valieva participated in the figure skating team event at the Beijing Winter Olympics held on February 7, 2022, and led Russia to win the gold medal.

The figure skating team awards ceremony was scheduled to be held on the 8th, the day after the competition, but the International Olympic Committee (IOC) suddenly postponed it, citing 'legal issues'.

Two days later, on the 10th, Inside the Games, which mainly reports Olympic-related news, reported that the awards ceremony was postponed due to Valieva's doping suspicions. Valieva, who dominated the women's singles stage, was considered the biggest star to shine at the Beijing Winter Olympics, so her entire competition fell into chaos.

Valieva tested positive for the banned substance trimetangidine in a doping test taken at the Russian Championships in December 2021.

Trimethangidine is a treatment for angina pectoris and was designated as a banned drug in 2014 due to its stimulant effect.

Valieva competed in the women's singles despite the controversy. She was not disqualified from participating in the Olympics due to the fact that she was a minor under the age of 16 and did not have the authority to take drugs, and that she was notified of her doping disqualification late.

Valieva finished only fourth in the women's singles after her ups and downs.

CAS, which later reviewed her case, decided on the 30th of last month that Valiyeva had violated her doping rules, suspending her as an athlete for four years and revoking Russia's gold medal in the figure team event at the Beijing Winter Olympics.

With the release of the CAS ruling, specific details became known.

“The banned drug trimetangidine entered her body through her strawberry dessert given to her by her grandfather,” Valieva said. A few times, she happened to see her grandfather crushing pills with his knife and dissolving them in her glass cup before taking them. “She may have eaten from the same glass or cutting board as I did,” she explained.

However, CAS said, “Valieva’s explanation was not substantiated by concrete evidence. “She lacks evidence on many fronts,” she said, adding, “there are also too many unanswered questions for Valieva,” and ruled that she committed a doping violation. 19가이드03