Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva also lost the last possible appeal in the doping case at the 2022 Olympics
Article by Luminița Paul – Published on Thursday, 30 October 2025 20:48 / Updated on Thursday, 30 October 2025 20:50
Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva, 19, on Thursday lost the last possible appeal in the doping case that has rocked the 2022 Beijing Olympics, where she was expected to be among the stars of the multi-sport competition.
The judges of the Swiss Federal Court rejected the appeal Kamila Valieva to overturn the four-year ban imposed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport last January following the trimetazidine doping case during the Beijing 2022 Olympics.
Valieva was forced by the Supreme Court to pay 7,000 Swiss francs ($8,700) court costs and 8,000 Swiss francs ($10,000) to the World Anti-Doping Agency and the International Skating Union.
TAS decided: disqualification from all evidence
At the TAS, last year, it was also decided to disqualify the Russian from all events in Beijing, which led to the relegation of the Russians from the gold medal to the bronze medal in the team event. Thus, the representatives of the United States of America rose to the rank of Olympic champions. These medals were finally awarded in 2024 during the Summer Olympics in Paris.
Three CAS judges also rejected an argument by Kamila Valieva's lawyers that her positive test for trimetazidine, a banned drug used to treat heart conditions – detected during the Olympics in a sample taken six weeks earlier at Russia's national championships – it was caused by the contamination of a strawberry dessert prepared by her grandfather, who had a prescription for said doctor.
Kamila Valieva (photo: Imago)
At the Swiss Supreme Court, lawyers for the Russian skater presented an Associated Press article from September 2024 to argue that WADA engaged in “procedural fraud” to suppress evidence.
That article detailed experiments conducted in 2022 by an experienced scientist at the request of Russian anti-doping officials that suggested contamination was not impossible. However, the scientist also stated that the intentional use of the banned substance was the most plausible explanation.
Five Swiss federal judges said in their verdict published Thursday that the sports team's new arguments were speculative and highly questionable, while the scientist's report did not constitute conclusive evidence.
Valieva, 19, was given permission to resume training last week before her ban expired in December. She cannot qualify, however, to compete in Milan at the Winter Olympics in February 2026.
