Two legal substances used to improve heart function are listed on an anti-doping control form filled out for Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva before her drug case at the Olympics erupted, according to documents submitted in her case.The World Anti-Doping Agency filed a brief in the Valieva case stating that the mention on the form of L-carnitine and Hypoxen, though both legal, undercuts the argument that a banned substance, trimetazidine, might have entered the skater's system accidentally.Hypoxen, a drug designed to increase oxygen flow to the heart, was a substance the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency recently tried, without success, to get placed on the banned list. L-carnitine, another oxygen-boosting performance enhancer, is banned if injected above certain thresholds. The supplement was the focal point of the doping case involving track coach Alberto Salazar.Combining those with 2.1 nanograms of trimetazidine, the drug found in Valieva's system after a Dec. 25 test, is “an indication that something more serious is going on,” USADA CEO Travis Tygart said.“You use all of that to increase performance,” he said. “It totally undermines the credibility” of Valieva's defense.Two people with knowledge of the case told The Associated Press that a brief seen by AP that was filed by the World Anti-Doping Agency in a hearing on Valieva's case was authentic. The people spoke on condition of anonymity because the document was not publicly available. WADA did not immediately respond to an email left by AP asking for comment on the brief.The brief describes Valieva’s mother as arguing that the skater’s grandfather was a regular user of trimetazidine, which would explain how it got into her system.WADA said while that explanation involves “some form of exposure” to trimetazidine, it is not an argument that she had taken a “contaminated product,” which can be used as a defense.In addition, WADA said there was no attempt to argue that the legal substances listed on the form were contaminated, either, so “the athlete necessarily cannot meet the criteria to have her” suspension lifted via the contaminated-product rule.Valieva's positive test came to light after she had led the Russians to a gold medal in the team skating event last week. Russia's anti-doping agency at first suspended her, then lifted the suspension. That led WADA and the IOC to appeal to CAS, which determined Valieva could skate in the women's event that began TuesdayBecause she is 15, she is considered a “protected person” under anti-doping rules and could escape major sanctions. Her coaches and other members of her entourage are subject to automatic investigation and bigger penalties.The larger case involving the positive test, and resolving whether Russia will get its gold medal, will be decided later. In the meantime, the IOC has said there will be no medals ceremony for events in which Valieva makes the podium. She's a favorite for gold, and was leading after the short program.

The doping scandal surrounding Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) figure skater Kamila Valieva has rocked the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.The 15-year-old Valieva, a breakout star of the Games who helped the ROC take home gold in the figure skating team event, was allowed to compete despite testing positive for the banned heart drug trimetazidine, which is commonly used to treat people with angina.The failed test only came to light during the Winter Olympics, and it remains unclear if the drug test controversy will see the medal revoked.The scandal continues to delay the awarding of medals to all three teams -- silver for Team USA and bronze for Team Japan.Here's a timeline of the events we know so farDec. 25, 2021 -- Drug sample is taken from Valieva at the 2022 Russian Figure Skating Championships in Saint Petersburg, Russia.Jan. 15, 2021 -- Valieva wins 2022 European Championships in Tallinn, Estonia.Feb. 1, 2022 -- Valieva arrives in Beijing for the Winter Olympics.Feb. 7, 2022 -- Valieva helps ROC win gold in the figure skating team event at Beijing 2022, landing the first ever quadruple jump by a woman in Olympic competition.Feb. 7, 2022 -- According to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), a WADA-accredited laboratory in Stockholm, Sweden, confirms an adverse analytical finding in Valieva's sample(Why Sweden? The Russian Anti-Doping Agency's laboratory is currently suspended by WADA, hence testing is outsourced and carried out by WADA-accredited laboratories. In this instance, testing was designated to the Stockholm laboratory.)Feb. 8, 2022 -- According to the International Testing Agency (ITA), a WADA-accredited laboratory in Stockholm confirms an adverse analytical finding in Valieva's sample.Feb. 8, 2022 -- Valieva is notified and provisionally suspended by RUSADA.Feb. 8, 2022 -- The medal ceremony for the figure skating team event is postponed. Later, reports emerge of a failed drugs test by a member of the ROC team.Feb. 9, 2022 -- Valieva challenges provisional suspension; RUSADA Disciplinary Anti-Doping Committee lifts suspension.Feb. 10, 2022 -- Valieva trains as normal at the Capital Indoor Stadium in Beijing.Feb. 11, 2022 -- ITA confirms Valieva failed a test for a banned substance in December; the ITA, on behalf of the IOC, WADA and ISU, say they are appealing to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) calling for Valieva's provisional suspension to be reinstated.Feb. 15, 2022 -- Valieva is due to compete in the women's single skating short program event at the Beijing Games.Feb. 17, 2022 -- Valieva is due to compete in the women's single skating free skating event at the Beijing Games.Who are the key players involved?Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) -- Independent international body established to settle sporting disputes through arbitration.International Testing Agency (ITA) -- Independent agency in charge of drugs testing during the Beijing Games.World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) -- Global independent agency in charge of overseeing drugs testing around the world.Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) -- Russia's national anti-doping organization affiliated to WADA.International Olympic Committee (IOC) -- Governing body of all National Olympic Committees worldwide responsible for organizing Summer and Winter Games.Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) -- National Olympic Committee representing Russia.International Skating Union (ISU) -- International governing body overseeing competitive ice skating disciplines.

Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva’s right to compete in the imminent women’s event at the Beijing Olympics will be decided at an urgent hearing at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.The International Testing Agency — on behalf of the IOC -- said Friday it would fight a decision by Russia’s anti-doping agency to allow the 15-year-old Valieva to skate. The Russian agency had provisionally banned Valieva this week because she failed a doping test in December.Valieva is the heavy favorite in her event which begins Tuesday after setting world record scores this season and landing the first quad jump by a women at an Olympics when the Russian Olympic Committee won the team event Monday. The ROC said it will fight to keep that gold medal.The ITA confirmed reports that Valieva tested positive for the banned substance trimetazidine at the Russian national championships in St. Petersburg six weeks ago.The positive test was flagged by a laboratory in Sweden only on Tuesday — the day after Valieva helped the Russians win the team event and just hours before the medal ceremony, which was then postponed. Whether the Russians will lose that gold medal will be decided later.An AP request for an interview with the Swedish lab has gone unanswered.Valieva was hit with an immediate interim ban from the Beijing Olympics by the Russian anti-doping agency known as RUSADA, which oversaw testing at the national championships.On Wednesday, a RUSADA disciplinary panel upheld her appeal and overturned the skater's interim ban.The rushed hearing at CAS will only consider the question of the provisional ban at these Games, said the ITA, which is prosecuting on behalf of the IOC. The ITA was formed by the IOC in 2018 in the wake of the Russian doping scandal to manage international testing and to design the anti-doping program for the Olympics.“The IOC will exercise its right to appeal and not to wait for the reasoned decision by RUSADA, because a decision is needed before the next competition the athlete is due to take part in,” the testing agency said.As a 15-year-old, Valieva has protections in the sports’ rule book – the World Anti-Doping Code. Under these guidelines she could ultimately receive just a simple reprimand.When a minor is implicated in doping rules violations, the rules state her entourage, such as coaches and team doctors, must be investigated, too. That isn't typically the case for athletes aged over 18.“Such cases are not helpful to the Games," IOC spokesman Mark Adams said. “These cases need to be prosecuted properly, taken care of properly and due process needs to be gone through. Otherwise I think the confidence of people would be even less. So I think it’s very important for everybody concerned, not least the 15-year-old athlete that’s concerned, that we have due process, that it’s seen to be done properly, and that people can have confidence in the decisions that are taken.”Valieva will likely be stripped of her Russian national title in December.“The Russian Olympic Committee will take comprehensive measures to defend the rights and interests of the ROC team and to keep the honestly-won Olympic gold medal (in the team event),” the ROC said in a statement. It added that a doping test Valieva took while at the Olympics came back clean - all medalists are tested at the Olympics.“The ROC also assumes that a full investigation will be carried out, as a result of which all significant legal and factual circumstances regarding what has happened will be established."For the second straight day, Valieva worked out early at the main rink inside Capital Indoor Stadium as if nothing was amiss. She was flanked by Russian teammates Alexandra Trusova and world champion Anna Shcherbakova, both of whom are also coached by Eteri Tutberidze,During the 45-minute session, Valieva threw down four quad jumps, including one in a potentially high-scoring combination with a triple salchow.Despite missing on that combo at the Rostelecom Cup in November, when she did a quad-double, Valieva still set a world record there for her free skate. She also set the world record for the short program and total score at the same Grand Prix event in Russia.A ruling on the Olympic team event likely will take much longer, preventing any medals being awarded in Beijing before the closing ceremony on Feb. 20. RUSADA will first investigate the full merits of the doping case and give a judgment. That verdict would lead to an appeal and could also end up at CAS.“The decision on the results of the ROC team in the Team Figure Skating event can be taken by the ISU only after a final decision on the full merits of the case has been taken,” the ITA said.The latest doping case involving a Russian athlete could have broader implications for the country’s sports program.Russia is competing in the Beijing Olympics as ROC, short for Russian Olympic Committee, without its anthem or flag. That’s because of the fallout from years of doping disputes including steroid use and cover-ups at the 2014 Winter Olympics, which Russia hosted.Another scandal could extend its two-year ban beyond the scheduled December end.