MOSCOW (Reuters) – The Kremlin on Monday said it hoped Russia’s Kamila Valieva and her Olympic figure skating teammates would soon be awarded their gold medal, after sport’s top court cleared the teenager to compete in her next Olympic event despite having tested positive for a banned drug.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Monday said in a statement that it had upheld an earlier decision by the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) to lift a ban on 15-year-old Valieva, whose case has rocked the Beijing Games and remains unresolved.
The medal ceremony for the figure skating team event was delayed after it emerged that a sample given by Valieva in December had tested positive for a banned heart drug. The Kremlin said Russian sports authorities were working actively on the issue.
The Kremlin said it hoped Russia, whose athletes are competing in their third consecutive Olympics without their flag and national anthem as part of doping sanctions, would be able to compete as normal at the next Olympics.
(Reporting by Dmitry Antonov; Writing by Alexander Marrow; Editing by Mark Trevelyan)
