A sinister shadow continues to hang over the Team Figure Skating event at the Beijing Winter Olympics following news that 15 year old Russian skater, Kamila Valieva, has been suspended for a failed drugs test.
The story has dominated headlines over the last few days after the initially unexplained decision to postpone the medal ceremony for “legal reasons”. Valieva was provisionally suspended with that decision quickly being reversed by the Russian anti-doping agency (RUSADA). Cue an appeal by the International Olympic Committee with the whole saga rapidly heading in the direction of the Court of Arbitration for Sport. A decision is expected ahead of the individual skating event next week.
Aside from the obvious (and sadly familiar) angles to this story of a Russian athlete being accused of doping and the suspended/not suspended debacle there are a number of other even more troubling aspects. First and foremost being the fact that Valieva is only 15. The International Testing Agency has confirmed that she failed a drugs test taken several months prior to the Beijing Games. Serious questions need to be asked what has gone on here. But will they? In the UK, such a scandal would inevitably lead to a thorough, and probably independent, investigation. Who was involved? What went wrong with the governance and safeguarding responsibilities? What athlete welfare measures now need to be taken and lessons learned? What protection needs to be offered to people who speak up? And is this part of a wider systemic problem? An internal enquiry will always be vulnerable to accusations of bias and cover up, particularly where there may be career-ending and potentially even criminal consequences for those to blame. It remains to be seen how the Russians will investigate this and how hard the world sport’s governing bodies and anti-doping agencies will push them.
Then there are the data privacy aspects of this situation to consider. Not only has this young athlete been named but special category health data relating to a minor has been disclosed. While the World Anti-Doping Agency Code “recognizes and affirms the importance of ensuring that the privacy rights of persons subject to anti-doping programs based on the Code are fully respected” people may be left asking why a 15 year old’s health data is now widely available in the public domain.
There are interesting questions for the sport as well – is Valieva a victim, culprit or both, and to what extent should that reflect in any ban or sanction applied. It also feels unsatisfactory that a test taken in December was not reported until after Valieva had competed in the Olympics. This delay has only compounded the embarrassment and confusion surrounding this episode to say nothing of the sense of injustice for clean skaters potentially robbed of their moment of glory.
Sadly scandals of this kind continue to overshadow and sometimes define the Olympics. There is little good to be salvaged from the mess but a thorough independent investigation and universal recognition that doping of junior athletes requires an even stronger reaction and remedial response would at least be a start.
The future of the 15-year-old Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva at these Winter Olympics remains in limbo