Team Russia to receive Olympic bronze medals despite Kamila Valieva disqualification

While Russia’s all-star teenage figure skater Kamila Vaileva was banned for the next four years because of a positive doping test, the country will still receive bronze medals from the 2022 Beijing Olympics, a top sports court ruled.

NBC News reported that now the United States will snag the gold medal in the team event. Japan follows as they are upgraded from silver to bronze. Russia will hold the third-place spot even though the team was stripped of Valieva’s earned points, edging out the fourth-place country, Canada.

Valieva was recently disqualified from the sport by Switzerland’s Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). They ruled that the then 15-year-old violated anti-doping rules when she tested positive for a heart medication called trimetazidine, which she claimed she accidentally ingested. The drug has been prohibited by the World Anti-Doping Agency since 2014. Valieva is now 17, and the ban will lift in time for the 2026 Italy Games.

However, the International Skating Union said since the ruling that there will be an amended scoring system from the Beijing competition. The ISU took Valieva’s 10 points from two of her events. It also did not award extra points to the other teams that placed after her. The final decision on awarding medals will be made by the International Olympic Committee. And it is possible for Canada to legally challenge the decision.

“The ISU is in close contact with the International Olympic Committee and the relevant ISU member federations in regard to the implementation of this decision,” the sport’s body said.