Adults overseeing teen skater face scrutiny
The turmoil engulfing a 15-year-old Russian figure skater who tested positive for a banned substance has thrust her eminent coach and a doctor with past doping offences into the spotlight at the Beijing Games.
Teen skater Kamila Valieva was cleared on Monday to compete in her remaining event. But the drug charge against her is unresolved and anti-doping authorities in Russia are unlikely to hear her case until well after the Winter Games end.
As Valieva prepares to retake the ice on Tuesday, the role of her doctor and coach, along with other adults in the prodigy’s sporting career, has prompted outrage over how a minor could have taken the banned heart drug trimetazidine. Valieva’s case has shone a light on the conditions endured by the Russian teenagers who now dominate figure skating.
The World Anti-doping Agency (WADA) said it would launch an independent investigation into the adults surrounding Valieva. WADA said the Russian Anti-doping Agency was already investigating.
U.S. anti-doping officials said the Russians who have directed Valieva could also be prosecuted under the American Rodchenkov Act, which lets U.S. prosecutors seek fines of up to $1 million and up to 10-year jail terms, even for non-americans, if their actions have affected the results of U.S. athletes.
Valieva’s coach Eteri Tutberidze, who is known in skating circles for harsh training methods, faces heightened scrutiny at the Beijing Games.
Filipp Shvetsky, the towering, dark-haired physician who treats members of Russia’s figure skating team, was suspended from the sport of rowing between 2007 and 2010 for anti-doping violations.
Tutberidze and Shvetsky have not been charged with any wrongdoing and Reuters has no evidence of their possible role in Valieva’s positive doping test. Neither responded to requests for comment.