Beijing — Kamila Valieva, the 15-year-old Russian celebrity who was anticipated to ship her nation its third straight Olympic gold medal in girls's determine skating, practiced as standard on Thursday hours after studies surfaced that she had examined optimistic for a banned substance. As CBS Information correspondent Jamie Yuccas studies from the Beijing Winter Olympics village, if confirmed, a optimistic check might value Russia its gold medal within the group skating competitors and knock Valieva — thought of a favourite — out of competition within the particular person occasion subsequent week.
However the Worldwide Olympic Committee would offer no details about why the medal ceremony for the group occasion remained on maintain Thursday, days after the judges' rating playing cards ought to have put Valieva atop the rostrum.
The group occasion was Monday, and Russia's group took the very best rating, in entrance of the USA after which Japan.
The IOC mentioned earlier this week that an ongoing "authorized difficulty" was stopping the awarding of medals for the occasion, and on Thursday, IOC spokesman Mark Adams mentioned he could not present any additional data, refusing to even verify a medication check was concerned.
"I am unable to touch upon hypothesis that I've seen in a single day," he mentioned at a every day media briefing in Beijing. "We had a state of affairs come up at brief discover that has authorized implications and I am not going to touch upon a authorized case in a press convention."
Russia is already competing underneath suspension on the Olympics after the nation was banned for state-sponsored doping. The sanctions imply the group is competing not underneath the Russian nationwide flag, however solely underneath the banner of its nationwide Olympic committee.
On Thursday, Russia's main sports activities information outlet Championat.ru reported that Valieva's had been positioned underneath non permanent suspension pending a doping check, however that it had been "lifted," and thus Russia would maintain onto its gold medal within the group skating occasion.
The Russian information web site didn't present a supply for its data, and Olympic officers in Beijing stored their lips sealed. There was nonetheless no indication when the medal ceremony may happen, or which nation would stand on the very best podium when it did.
Different Russian shops had reported that a pattern obtained earlier than Valieva received the European championship final month in Estonia, a efficiency that solidified her standing because the chief of Russia's "quad squad" of elite girls's determine skaters, had examined optimistic for a banned substance.
"She isn't suspended," Russian determine skating federation spokeswoman Olga Ermolina mentioned, providing no additional element.
The Worldwide Skating Union, the game's governing physique, mentioned in an announcement that it "can't disclose any details about any doable anti-doping rule violation."
Valieva ran via her program and skated with teammate Alexandra Trusova whereas getting pointers from coach Eteri Tutberidze on the apply rink on Thursday. She flashed a smile to one in every of her coaches close to the top of the roughly 30-minute session, and not one of the skaters took questions from reporters.
The sometimes tight-lipped Russian group was much more guarded than standard in the course of the males's free skate, the place Mark Kondratiuk merely mentioned, "No remark," to a sequence of questions concerning the squad and whether or not he thought Valieva's case could be resolved.
The drug reportedly detected in Valieva's pattern, trimetazidine, is a metabolic agent that helps forestall angina assaults and treats vertigo, in line with the European Union's medicines company. It's banned by the World Anti-Doping Company as a result of it may possibly assist endurance and enhance blood circulation effectivity, each of which might assist a determine skater.
Probably the most well-known case of trimetazidine in sports activities doping concerned Chinese language star swimmer Solar Yang, the three-time Olympic champ who served a three-month ban in 2014. Russian bobsledder Nadezhda Sergeeva additionally examined optimistic for it on the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics; she was disqualified from the two-woman bobsled occasion and served an eight-month ban.
It was unclear whether or not Valieva may need utilized for a therapeutic use exemption, or if she has a historical past of coronary heart issues.