BEIJING — Kamila Valieva's positive drug test has become the dominant story of the 2022 Winter Olympics – resurrecting concerns about state-sponsored doping in Russia, and prompting questions about fair play in Olympic sports.
International Olympic Committee officials, however, are asking onlookers to pump the proverbial brakes.
In a daily news briefing Wednesday, IOC spokesperson Mark Adams said it's premature to be making any "grand statements" or conclusions off Valieva's case because it is still in process. The 15-year-old figure skating superstar tested positive for a banned heart medication called trimetazidine, that can improve endurance. She is still allowed to compete while the case is pending. Valieva had argued to the Russian Anti-Doping Agency that she accidentally ingested the banned substance, probably through medication her grandfather takes.
"This case has not yet concluded," Adams said in response to a questions about whether this case will have a far-reaching impact on fairness at the Olympic Games.
"In fact, as far as I know, the 'B' sample hasn't even been opened. So I think drawing conclusions like that at this stage is really inappropriate."
In drug testing, blood or urine samples are separated into "A" and "B" bottles at the time of collection, and athletes can request to have their "B" sample tested if a banned substance is detected in their "A" sample.
Earlier this week, the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled that Valieva could continue competing at the Beijing Games despite the positive test.
The case has drawn worldwide scrutiny in large part because of Russia's doping history.
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In 2016, World Anti-Doping Agency investigators found that more than 1,000 Russian athletes were involved in, or benefitted from, the nation's state-sponsored doping program from 2011 to 2015, including at the 2014 Sochi Olympics. That probe helped lead to sanctions against Russia's sports program, which is why the nation is competing as the "Russian Olympic Committee" in Beijing.
Yet despite that history, the IOC has been unwilling to draw a link between Valieva's case and Russia's state-sponsored doping efforts.
"We don't have the details of the current case, (but) my impression from what I've seen and heard is that there is no connection with the institutionalized doping we had in Sochi," veteran IOC member Denis Oswald said Tuesday. "It seems to be a totally different case, but again, difficult to have an opinion without having all details."
When asked what had given him that impression, Oswald cited things he's read.
"I don't know much more than you about the case," he said. "It's an impression because the state doping was a big, big system. And it doesn't seem to be such a situation here. But we'll see when all inquiries are made, what is behind it."
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Adams, meanwhile, dismissed claims of widespread doping in Beijing.
"I would remind you that, as far as I know, there is one doping case. One doping case has taken place here at the Olympic Games so far," he said.
Hossein Saveh Shemshaki, an alpine skier from Iran, is the only athlete who has failed a drug test during the Games, as announced by the International Testing Agency. Valieva's case technically pre-dates the Olympics, because her sample was collected Dec. 25 at the Russian national championships.
"Would we prefer not to have all this going on? Absolutely," Adams said of Valieva's case. "Would we prefer to be having a normal competition without this distracting from it? I think everyone would agree with that, the athletes particularly. And it's for the athletes that my heart goes out. But we are where we are."
Contact Tom Schad at [email protected] or on Twitter @Tom_Schad.