Rodnina suggested “lying more beautifully” about Valieva’s doping case

Three-time Olympic champion in figure skating, State Duma deputy Irina Rodnina spoke about the doping case of Russian Kamila Valieva. Her words are quoted by Sport24.

“We should have learned to lie better about Valieva. Who will believe the fairy tale that she accidentally drank the wrong glass? What kind of nonsense is this?” – Rodnina said. She emphasized that the Russian side is to blame for this situation, because it gave other countries a chance to point out their mistakes.

Rodnina also explained what steps should be taken next. “Now we just need to work so that this ends as soon as possible. Let’s work on ourselves, and not look at someone else and say that they also have doping,” she suggested.

In January, the Russian Anti-Doping Agency’s disciplinary committee, a body independent from the main organization, informed the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) of Valieva’s innocence. At the same time, the skater was deprived of gold at the 2022 Russian Championship.

At the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing, Valieva won gold in the team competition, but the Russian team was not awarded due to a doping scandal involving her. Traces of the banned drug trimetazidine were found in the skater’s sample from December 2021. At the same time, CAS allowed her to participate in the individual tournament, where she took fourth place.