‘Absolute chaos’: CNN sports analyst reacts to Kamila Valieva ruling

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has decided that Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva will be allowed to continue competing at the Beijing Games. CNN's Sports Analyst Christine Brennan breaks down what the ruling means for the Russian athlete. #CNN #News

84 comments

  1. I can understand her not getting a medal, but for this to not allow anyone else not to get a medal is ridiculous.

    1. @benji zollman ..when thinking like you, the best would be just to decide to send medals to all people who want to compete and have Olympic “from home”……

    2. To save one skater via a terrible decision & screw two others out of a medals ceremony is a wimpy , politically correct, “Cop-out”. Did I understand correctly medals will awarded for the other two finishers?

    3. @Diane M

      No Diane. I just say that in MANY the instances, the “justice” understanding of American and EU opinion-leaders – and their followers comprising a lions share of population, – is anisotropic. Like “here we read, and here we don’t read”.

      If we are talking about justice and being fair to someone, we shall fallow ALL aspects of justice. And start with the beginning of the story which is, for the case, WHY the report came so late and CAN WE I. PRINCIPLE TEUST SUCH A REPORT that has been delivered with gross deadlines violation.

      No, I never stole anything, but I DID topped the speed many times, that’s why my position is as it is.

  2. Why are the other athletes being punished by not being able to have a medal ceremony? She just shouldn’t be allowed to participate. Wtf

    1. This is not a punishment. Rather an inconvenience/compromise to respect Kamila’s right of defense. First she has to fight for her medal, and then the lawyers will do.

    2. @Alex xelA If the results had not been slow walked, this girl would not have qualified to be on the roster. She was drugged to stimulate her training, and therefore give her an advantage. Then, they slow walked the results to enable her to get on the team. She would have not qualified for the team had the results come back as they should have, on time. And we would not be having this conversation because she would not even be here. Her presence in these games is an affront to all athletes that play by the rules.

    3. @Bees her performance was exciting, and even actor Alick Baldwin expressed his admiration, as well as admiration expressed by the editorial staff of the Washington Post newspaper. But I only expressed my hypothesis, what could be the reason for such an illogical situation regarding the timing of the “appointment of the guilty” (after a confident victory).

      I recall the situation with Mr. Rodchenkov, who at one time (before the Sochi Olympics in 2014) was part of the leadership of the Russian anti-doping laboratory, where Rodchenkov with the help of machinations (and with outside support, where shortly before the Sochi Olympics, by a strange coincidence, meldonium unexpectedly fell into the group of banned drugs), a general disqualification of Russian athletes followed (although. at the same time, 40% of skiers from Norway used inhalers and had a certificate that they suffer from a certain form of allergy), and Rodchenkov himself immigrated to the United States, where he even had plastic surgery on his face). So the United States has experience in large-scale conspiracies and fraud to eliminate competitors and “cover up” its allies…

    4. There will be no ceremony because Russians are expected to collect Gold Silver and Bronze in the women’s event. (Wonder which member of the IOC got a brown envelope for coming up with that idea).

    1. May be, because even if there was that medicine it was before starts. during Euro and Olimpics she was and is clear. They do all antydoping exams all the time, why there is that doping only one time? And in extreme low numbers? And wtf it appears only now?

    2. Американские фигуристки никогда не станут первыми как с допингом, так и без!!!!

  3. Disaster. My heart breaks for the athletes who play by the rules, and for a 15 year old who was supposed to be guided and protected by trustworthy adults, and was not.

    1. @Chuck Murray American athletes call themselves asthmatics and take doping on “legal grounds”. All American athletes are “asthmatics”)))). And the Norwegians said that they, too, were asthmatics and also began to “legally” take doping. And look at the results of Norway))).

    2. @ЭЮЯ The test result says she did take a banned substance. Sorry that the facts are what they are. She’s an amazing skater but rules should be applied the same for every athlete. The U.S. didn’t have anything to do with her test result so you should direct your anger where it belongs and that’s the adults around this skater.

    3. @Chuck Murray It is the West that is jealous and is waging war with Russian athletes. All tests were checked in WADA. Now WADA claims a dubious analysis submitted in mid-December (!!). If this is true, then why was she allowed to the Olympics at all if she takes doping? Why did they say that after Camila took first place? All this is fake. And if another Russian athlete had been in the first place, then WADA would have “found” doping in the tests of another athlete. It’s just a war of the West against Russia.

    4. @ЭЮЯ You are looking for a conspiracy where none exists. The “West” has nothing to do with testing of athletes. It’s done at and independent lab in Sweden. The “West” isn’t jealous of this skater. I personally think she’s brilliant. My personal feelings are not important. The only important fact is that she tested positive for a performance-enhancing banned substance and like every other competitor who tests positive, she should not be allowed to compete. Russia has at least three other brilliant skaters who can step in and take her place and probably still win all the medals for women’s figure skating in this Olympics. That’s what’s so sad about it. The most talented group of skaters ever to appear in the Olympics but now the competition is corrupted.

    5. @Chuck Murray New message from the IOC: The International Olympic Committee (IOC) told how a banned substance – trimetazidine – could have entered the body of 15-year-old Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva.
      According to the head of the disciplinary committee Denis Oswald, it could have got there with the product that her grandfather used.
      A similar case is already known when this substance was found in the body of an athlete who treated his relative with it.

  4. Wow completely ridiculous. She possibly did something wrong so they punish anyone competing in the same event??? How is that fair to anyone else and the years of work?

    1. @Jonathan Boullion The law is not perfect. It is perfected in time. That is what the legislature and the international legal organizations are for. Kamila’s mother has just appeared with her lawyer. Kamila’s grandfather uses this medicine and when there is time they visit each other and spend time together. For the micro dose found in Kamila’s blood. She may have accidentally shared a liquid or food from her grandfather. If true, it’s an accident. Sometimes I drop my medicine on the floor. It has happened to me that I have confused an Aspirin with a diabetes pill and I almost lost my life. My mother mistook a pain medication for a diuretic. These accidents at home are common.

    2. @Zion Child No. Because she did not test positive for anti-doping before and after the team competition in Beijing, and at the European Games in January 2022 she also tested negative. She means that she legitimately won. The positive anti-doping test was due to an exam carried out on December 25, 2021, which was delivered to the laboratories in Stockholm, Sweden. The result is delivered in 7 to 10 days. But the result came after 45 days in the middle of the Beijing Olympics. The suspension due to the positive test could have prevented her from being registered. But it was fixed in time. I do not understand why they want to apply a regulation that does not exist and they do not want to be subject to the law. I want my country to win honorably. And not by impositions that do not conform to the law.

    3. @Luis Sabino Yes, I understand that, but such a Law as it exists now, degrades the notions of fair play and ultimately why we compete in sporting events in the first place. For this law exist opens the door for anyone to claim an honest mistake to accidentally take a drug that gives them an edge then. And rather than sacrifice the sport for the competitor, they should have sacrificed the competitor for the sport. And notice this, if she truly cared about winning fairly and being the best representative for the sport, she would have already offered to not compete regardless of what an investigation says. The simple fact that she’s remained silent and yet the team wants her to compete is enough proof that what’s important to them is winning to win, not to be the best.

  5. It’s pretty bad when the IOC is the vessel of credibility and fairness in the conversation….just sayin’ Russia. I do feel bad for the athlete…she is clearly very talented but competes for a corrupt country and probably had little choice or say in the matter of this substance.

  6. When a minor is competing at international level with all ages, should follow the same rules like others, if the Russian skater violated the rules, she should be disqualified to compete. Other athletes have been disqualified for the same medication. It is unfair for all the athletes and furthermore, holding the ceremony of those that played fair is even worst.
    Cheating is not acceptable no matter who did it. There is no excuse.

    1. Minors under the selfish adults who are not looking out for thier best interests are why they shouldn’t be competing at all. No one is protecting them. The Olympics are not for children.

  7. This is highlighting a process issue that can easily be remedied in the future. Each player will be expected to have all drug testing results to the IOC (or whatever authority) before they begin their competition. You can even make it so that they must have clean tests in order to complete the Olympics check-in process with regular drug testing during and after the Olympics. Even with lab backlogs – a process issue which can also be engineered away, this is not an unreasonable rule. As for the politics behind state-sponsored doping and child abuse, that’s another issue entirely. An additional set of rules will be needed to force those countries out of a competition whose principles are being mocked and used for geo-political and financial gain.

    1. She tested negative at the Olympics this month and positive way back in December, the substance is no longer in her body.

    2. @Theodoяe Kяap Rules are rules. The substance gave an advantage in training which compounded successful results at the competition.

    3. Unfortunately, that really wouldn’t make a difference. The Russians have perfected “testing clean.” They know what to give which athletes, how much, and when to stop so their tests come out “clean.”

    4. @Grecia Torres The burden of proof is on the science. Where criminals get smart, the police have to be smarter. It will never end.

  8. Why can kids compete with adults with different rules. If your competing on a world stage why have different rules for different people.

    1. Its not that she can’t get the medal if her score is high enough but it will be delayed pending the results of the investigation. She is being given the benefit of the doubt I believe due to her age, and the delay in the testing of the sample. If the investigation concludes she took the drug (whether she knew what she was being given or not) then she won’t be awarded the medal. If it concludes otherwise (I don’t know how that will be determined) then she will be given the medal.

    2. @TheBagBalm What happen to the days where if you tested positive for a banned substance you were automatically disqualified from the Olympic games?

  9. To protect against child abuse, close the loop-hole. No more permitting “protected-persons” or “minors” to compete in the Olympics. If I understand correctly then no one under 16 competes in the Olympics.

    1. Bc it seems it’s always the youngest of these athletes are targeted for the worst abuse & grooming from people they are convinced to trust. Nobody under 16 should train or compete. And we need way more transparency in these games.

    2. olympic athletes are selected from childhood in pretty much every country, so you’ll have the same thing happening anyway (training all your life)

  10. While I feel sorry for her being misled by her coaches and trainers, it’s not right or fair to other skaters for her to compete. She used a substance that gave her an advantage over others, and cheaters should not be rewarded. It sets a bad precedent for future drug use.

    1. @Eva Smirnova It was just the first time she got caught. It doesn’t mean that she had micro-doses in the past. She could have used larger doses, but she just wasn’t caught.

    2. Well said. Now, her winning medal, casting doubt whether she won be enhancing drug or by natural abilities. This is In On Corruption(IOC) fault for allowing minors to participate in the games. When something like this happened, IOC says minors need to be protected. What about fairness to other athletes? IOC needs to look at themselves on this issue.

    3. If the full investigation is conducted properly and goes after the right people (i.e her coaches, doctors, and Russian Olympic officials), it will make a much stronger statement than banning a 15 year old likely abuse victim from doing what her entire life has revolved around. To be clear, based on the facts we have (which aren’t very many) she should be suspended. I’m just pointing out that there’s a far bigger picture here. It’s more than the integrity of the competition that’s at stake, it’s about the health and safety of these Russian girls.

  11. These young athletes start getting tested years before they get to this stage. If she is testing positive, she and her coaches are very aware and they should be banned from competing.

    1. It makes no sense why she would do medication, if it is true, knowing she’ll be tested. I really don’t trust the media.

    2. It is not as you suppose. Your logic is not correct. At least if you have gone through High School you will have studied Human Rights declared in the UN. Basic article 10 and 11, and the Declaration of Children’s Rights. Where it says that all children must be protected and that a child is anyone who is under 16 years of age. Kamila in the test at the European Games 2022 was negative. In the test before and after the Team Games in Beijing 2022 she tested negative. The positive anti-doping problem occurred in a local game in her country, the test was carried out on December 25, 2021 and the delivery to the laboratory in Stockholm in Sweden is in the indicated time. The answer must arrive from 7 to 10 days and I arrive 45 days later in the middle of the Olympics. Therefore there was no falsification of information in the declaration to the Olympics. And in her participation she did it clean, without the influence of any drug. You can’t treat a child athlete like an adult. The child is protected because the UN mandates it in the Declaration of the Rights of the Child. The most serious crime is the abuse they have done against a child. Adults who in their ambition used an innocent child like Kamila. Let’s be fair and defend the child, always.

    3. @Luis Sabino I understand where you’re coming from and ideally it should be so. But these archaic laws must be adjusted to the changing life styles
      aided by advancement in IT SNS and awareness of children unlike when
      the law was written.
      Children have been competing in all athletic venues and skating is one that’s glaring more bc of Eteri girls in past 3 Olympics and no one knew of
      these girls till just before the Games. What do you think ?
      I believe the age should be raised to 16 asap so that individuals are held
      accountable for any doping violation. Oh and to develop fast result test
      systems. Don’t let RUSADA involved in other words BANN them.

  12. This is the craziest ruling I’ve ever heard of. The rule should be simple, if a person cheats, they get disqualified, and everyone who didn’t cheat competes. If you want to allow her to skate, and even to get an unofficial score for it, fine. Then later if it turns out that the test was wrong, or whatever, fine, send her a gold medal.

    1. @Brain Sample Doping is cheating. Whether she did it or not doesn’t matter. It’s cheating. So disqualify her and let everyone else compete. Why are we making special rules for Russia?

    2. @Raheel Pervaiz This isn’t a court case. She failed a drug test. The rules are that when you fail a drug test you aren’t allowed to compete. There’s no rules that say you need to gather evidence and call a special tribunal.

      If this were any other athlete they would already be disqualified. Again, why is she getting special treatment?

  13. Can you imagine being the 2nd through 4th placers, all of whom followed the rules and should move up one medal position and not getting to enjoy the moment you’ve worked for your entire life because the Olympic committee doesn’t have the intestinal fortitude to do what’s right? Wow.

    1. Can you imagine being in the place for liza tuktamysheva or kostornaia right now? Valieva’s spot should have been given to either of the two

  14. The most pathetic part is taking take the medal ceremonies from all the other winners—that is a boneheaded decision

  15. I’m so tired of hearing about her age and because of that she is protected! She is competing against adults. Same rules need to apply to ALL ATHLETES!!

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