This is one of the most famous stories at the Winter Games in. The 15-year-old Kamila Walijewa became the first competitor in the history of the Games to successfully perform a four-fold jump. Thanks to her phenomenal performance, Russian athletes won gold. Or rather: they were supposed to win because the medal ceremony did not take place. An illegal substance – trimetazidine was detected in the body of the Russian woman. The sample was taken on December 25, but the result was not released until February 8. However, the Russian woman was already at the Olympics then.
The case of Walijewa will force a change in the rules of figure skating
Walijewa was suspended immediately. However, the temporary suspension was lifted by RUSADA, the Russian Anti-Doping Federation. This decision was appealed by (the International Olympic Committee), as well as by WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) and ISU (International Ice Union).
The final decision was to be made by CAS. On Monday, the Arbitration Tribunal for Sport rejected the application for re-imposition of the temporary suspension. Thus, she was allowed to take part in the competition of soloists (finally she was 4th). CAS argued for its decision that the matter would not have happened at all if the anti-doping testing procedures had been completed within a week or 10 days, as is the case with testing, for example, at the Olympic Games.
The age of the Russian ice skater is also significant in this entire history. At 15, she cannot be held responsible for breaking anti-doping rules as an adult, but she can compete in seniors. The failure of the soloists’ rivalry and all the confusion after the disclosure of a positive test result cost Kamiła a lot of emotions. “The games from which I remember, above all, a hurt child,” wrote Rafa³ Stec, a journalist for “Gazeta Wyborcza”.
There were plenty of such comments all over the world. And this situation provoked a discussion about whether such young players should take part in the senior competition. It turns out that there is a chance for the regulations to be changed in this matter.
“The ISU Council decided to put on the agenda of the Congress a proposal to raise the age limit to 17 years in senior competitions in all competitions,” the federation replied to a question from the AFP press agency.
Details of the idea are to be known by April 30th. However, whether the regulation will come into force, it will have to be accepted by 2/3 of the members of the federation’s member states. It will be voted on at the ISU Congress on June 6-10 in Phuket, Thailand.
Source: Sport
Tristin is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his in-depth and engaging writing on sports. He currently works as a writer at 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the sports industry.
