In an all-too-familiar story, a Russian athlete at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games is facing an investigation for taking illegal performance-enhancing medication. Fifteen-year-old Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva tested positive for a combination of three heart medications: Hypoxen, L-carnitine, and trimetazidine, the last of which is a substance banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).
Valieva claims she took the illegal substance by accident, saying she somehow consumed her grandfather's heart medication, but professionals and commentators are not buying her excuse.
"As an Olympic athlete myself, you don't take one thing that you don't know what's in it. You, we, understand everything that goes into our bodies. I'm not sure I bought it," said former Olympian Kaitlyn Weaver to CNN.
Valieva's doping scandal
On Dec. 25, at the Russian national championship, Valieva took a drug test, as do all competitive Olympic athletes.
The test was administered by the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) but had to be sent to Stockholm, Sweden, as the Russian lab is still under suspension. RUSADA had been suspended in 2015 due to allegations it was helping to cover for Russian Olympians taking illegal substances.
While still waiting for the results of her drug test, Valieva competed in the Olympic figure skating team event. She became the first woman to land a quadruple jump in the Olympics, which helped earn Russia the gold for the event.
However, that same day, WADA announced that it had found a banned substance in her drug test. After these findings were released, RUSADA confirmed that Valieva had tested positive for trimetazidine but claimed it had not attempted to cover up the results. Instead, it insisted that COVID-19 had led to a delay that prevented them from accessing her test results until after WADA did.
Following the news, RUSADA suspended Valieva from participating in all Olympic events, and the International Olympic Committee postponed the team figure skating medal ceremony.
Just one day later, RUSADA lifted its suspension of Valieva.
Following formal appeals lodged by the IOC, the International Skating Union (ISU), and WADA against RUSADA's decision, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled that she would be allowed to compete in the women's singles event.
The CAS decided that preventing her from competing "would cause her irreparable harm in the circumstances," though any medals she won would be withheld pending the results of the continuing investigation into her doping violation.
The decision cited her young age, negative tests that followed the one on Dec. 25, and the delay in the results of that test.
The decision sparked outrage from the International Olympic Committee and WADA. Now, current and former Olympic athletes and coaches are speaking out against the decision to let Valieva compete.
Former champions weigh in
"This situation is super unfortunate, and it's also unprecedented that someone with a failed doping test is allowed to compete in the Games. It's a complete slap in the face to every single athlete who comes here and competes clean," said 2022 figure skating coach Adam Rippon. "It is so heartbreaking that there is a 15-year-old girl in the center of this. It is so not fair to her, but the people around her completely failed her. That they find three different substances, one of them illegal in competition in her system, it just... makes you think and it makes you question everything that the ROC [Russian Olympic Committee] is doing here."
Former Olympic skaters Tara Lipinski and Johnny Weir also weighed in on the scandal. "Well, I strongly disagree with this decision... First, I would like to say that Kamila is only 15 years old, she is a minor, and I know first-hand what it's like just competing at an Olympic Games at 15 years old," Lipinski said. "I remember the overwhelming feelings and pressure that I felt, and for a young person, that's a lot to deal with. But with that being said, clean sport is the only thing that matters at an Olympic Games. What we love about an Olympic Games is that we get to marvel at humans pushing athletic limits and doing the impossible, and doing it fairly and cleanly."
"I have to condemn this decision with every ounce of my soul. The Olympics has to be clean, or it's not fair. If you won't play fair, then you can't play," Weir added. "It doesn't matter how old you are, or the timing on when the test results have come in. You have to be responsible for what happens to your body to compete in the Olympics. This is a slap in the face to the Olympic Games, to our sport, and to every athlete that's ever competed at the Olympics clean."
The Sha'Carri Richardson scandal
However, the most poignant criticism of this decision comes from outside the figure skating community.
"Can we get a solid answer on the difference between her situation and mine?" asked American sprinter Sha'Carri Richardson on Twitter. "The only difference I see is I'm a black young lady."
The 21-year-old sprinter was suspended from competing in the Summer Olympic games last year, after testing positive for marijuana use. While Richardson took full responsibility for her actions and accepted her punishment, she also noted that marijuana is not a steroid and was used as an antianxiety medication after she found out about the death of her biological mother.
Unlike trimetazidine, marijuana does not enhance physical abilities. However, it is still banned by WADA.
Richardson's comments have sparked new concerns around how BIPOC athletes are held to different standards than white ones.
In 2009, before marijuana had been legalized in parts of the US, swimmer Michael Phelps was photographed using the substance. While Phelps did lose sponsorships after the controversy, he was still allowed to compete in the subsequent Olympic Games.
Soccer star and Olympic athlete Megan Rapinoe has also been public about her marijuana use, promoting her CBD brand, Mendi, which is marketed as a treatment for athletes recovering from muscle strain. Again, Rapinoe faced no repercussions from the WADA for her promotion and use of cannabis.
Banning natural testosterone
In 2015 World Athletics passed hormone-regulation rules, stating that female athletes must present testosterone levels below ten nanomoles per liter for at least 12 months before a competition. In 2019, that number was lowered to just five nanomoles.
These regulations were put in place to prevent Transgender women from competing in female athletics, a controversy that has become hot in American politics over the last few years. However, the data used to determine what "regular" testosterone levels in women are were primarily collected by white women, and did not account for the fact that some cis and Intersex women can naturally have higher levels of testosterone.
In 2021, four Black women were banned from competing in their events due to their hormone levels.
Caster Semenya, a two-time Olympic gold medalist from South Africa, was banned from competition in 2021 after refusing to take hormone-suppressant medications, which made her physically ill. She is now in a legal battle against World Athletics, challenging its discriminatory policies.
Kenyan runner Margaret Wambui was also banned from competition in 2021 due to her naturally higher levels of testosterone. "It would be good if [a] third category for athletes with high testosterone was introduced, because it is wrong to stop people from using their talents," Wambui told BBC Sports.
Burundi's Francine Niyonsaba and Niger's Aminatou Seyni were banned from competing in their preferred events due to their hormonal levels and instead were placed in events they were less prepared for. When told to medically suppress their testosterone, again, both athletes refused. "I didn't want to take any medical steps. My hormones are natural," Seyni said to Reuters.
These women were excluded from the Games due to their refusal to alter their bodies with hormonal treatment.
Now, the newest Russian doping scandal has left many wondering why a young white girl was allowed to compete when Black athletes face numerous unnecessary hurdles every year.