Valieva argued positive test was mix-up with grandfather's heart drug - IOC

[demmiblue]

BEIJING, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva has argued that her positive drug test was caused by a mix-up with her grandfather's heart medication, an Olympic official said on Tuesday.

The 15-year-old's defence was revealed as Beijing braced for an unprecedented Olympic moment - the world's top figure skaters will compete in the evening's single competition with the likelihood they will not receive medals at the Winter Games.

Denis Oswald, the International Olympic Committee's permanent chair of the disciplinary commission, said Valieva claimed there was a mix-up at a Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) hearing into whether she should be allowed to continue competing.

"Her argument was this contamination happened with a product her grandfather was taking," Oswald said.

https://www.reuters.com/lifestyle/sports/olympics/valievas-b-sample-yet-be-examined-ioc-2022-02-15/

Link to tweet

[Goonch]

1. ;-{)🖖‍

[aeromanKC]

2. How convenient.

Just saying.

[Hav]

3. Sometimes, it's better not to say anything

I'm confident the B sample will be positive as well.
It's a pity that methods like these are used on a minor. I saw her performance a couple of days ago and those first two jumps made my jaw drop. I've never seen it look that aesthetically. She's without a doubt an exceptional talent but the people around her are monsters and should get lifetime bans.

[phylny]

4. Yeah, this happens all the time with my husband's medicine and mine.

Sometimes I take his, sometimes he takes mine. Just a mix up.

[Phoenix61]

5. What did she think she was taking? nt

[demmiblue]

8. A glass of water.*

Her mother and legal representatives claimed at a hearing that the banned drug entered the teenager's because she shared a glass of water with her grandfather who uses medication for a heart condition.

The argument was made at a Court of Arbitration for Sport hearing late Sunday night by the teenager's mother Alsu Valieva and her lawyer Anna Kozmenko, the publication Pravda first reported.

In the daily International Olympic Committee briefing, IOC member Denis Oswald confirmed Valieva's argument for lifting her suspension was 'contamination which happened with a product her grandfather was taking'.

The CAS judges ruled Monday that Valieva can compete in the women's individual event despite testing positive for a banned heart medication.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10513801/Kamila-Valieva-claims-tested-positive-banned-drug-sharing-water-GRANDPA.html

* The source used for this Daily Mail article is Pravda, though.

[Phoenix61]

9. Thanks! What utter bs! nt

[atreides1]

14. Uh huh

And you can get pregnant from a toilet seat...

[stopdiggin]

17. so it was a homeopathic

case of doping? (in which case - can it really be called doping?)

----- -----

[demmiblue]

20. !

[Hugin]

23. I learned long ago...

When around elderly relatives, what looks like apple juice in the fridge may not be so.

[JohnSJ]

6. and my dog ate my homework too

[Ace Rothstein]

7. I thought of the gif you used as I was reading through the post.

[Jedi Guy]

10. She's lying, clearly. But can you blame her?

If she admitted that her coaches and trainers were deliberately doping her with an illegal substance, odds are pretty good her grandfather would have a "heart attack." Or fall out of a window. Or polonium would unaccountably end up in his tea. Or he'd somehow come across Novichok. Or be disappeared. Or any of those things might happen to someone else in her family, or even to her.

These days, the Russians don't play games. If she embarrassed them, never skating again would very likely be the least of her concerns. Faced with consequences like those, I think just about anyone would mouth the party line no matter what it was.

[gab13by13]

13. And that's the kind of country

that Magats believe will make them free, they want the same government.

[Irish_Dem]

18. I know, they have no idea what a real loss of freedom looks like.

Send them to China or Russia for a month.

[ShazzieB]

11. Rolling my eyes SO hard at this right now. 🙄

[Buns_of_Fire]

12. Oh? What event is her grandfather competing in? nt

[GoCubsGo]

15. Hahahahaha!!!

They're taking a page from the Donald Trump School of Bullshit Excuses. Next thing you know Kamila* is going to have kidney surgery...

[AngryOldDem]

16. Oh for the love of...

And did the dog eat your homework, too?

Kid, please. Just keep your mouth shut. You’re competing, you’ll most likely get gold, and your pals got away with it AGAIN.

We won’t ask just how you got hold of gramp’s drugs because it really doesn’t matter anymore.

I hope the IOC finally gets sick of the bullshit and blowback and bans these cheaters after this year.

[Nevilledog]

21. Trump ate her homework.

[AngryOldDem]

24. Bwahahaha...

Good one.

[bullwinkle428]

19. Was willing to maintain a presumption of innocence on her part. Then, she had

to open her mouth to say something like this.

[nolabear]

22. That's some serious backwash.

[IngridsLittleAngel]

25. I keep waiting to hear from the noble knights fighting to protect women's sports..

After all, girls and women's sports are all under attack! This is a Serious Problem™ and it needs Serious Action™! Sports should be a safe space for females, and it's total injustice that these girls lost to a doped-up 15 year old Russian girl! They all should've had a fair chance to win, and it was denied because of the cocktail of drugs she's on!

And I know they're around. They have to be. I saw them just the other day, speaking up and fighting valiantly to protect female athletes!

Who is going to do something?! When is it going to be done?! This cannot be allowed to happen to female athletes! This is Serious™! This is the worst injustice in the world today and....

Wait. What's that about Kamila Valieva? She's.... Ohh... OHHHH. Nevermind. All good. This isn't a travesty after all. Move along. Nothing to see here. All female athletes are free and safe from Serious Issues™.

[Emile]

26. What she doing in Grandpa's medicine cabinet?

[malaise]

27. Of course and Sharapova ran into that

diabetic drug just like that.

[LisaL]

30. Meldonium was not a prohibited substance until 2016.

Apparently a lot of Russian and Europeans athletes were taking it-which was perfectly fine when it wasn't banned. When it became prohibited, it would appear not everyone stopped using it.

[lindysalsagal]

29. The olympic committee should be replaced. Maybe vlad has threatened them.

But the truth is some day this girl is going to have to live with the consequences and live in fear they'll want to silence her. She's powerless in that corrupt system.

[malaise]

32. Do you know the history of the IOC?

It has long been a gathering of the monarchs, nobility, military, authoritarians and fascists and all were also misogynists' and racists. OK there have been a few reforms but the usual suspects have been replaced by the new profiteers

[LisaL]

33. IOC wanted her to not be able to compete.

It's the CAS who ruled she should be allowed to compete since her sample B hasn't been tested yet.

[lindysalsagal]

35. No, I had no idea. Explains alot.

[VGNonly]

34. Yeah yeah

that's the ticket.

[dv421]

36. Accidentally taking a PE substance

is not an excuse.

As an athlete (and I was one who had to deal with this), you need to be very clear as to what you are putting in your body. You have to be republican conspiracy theory level of paranoid. Never drink out of a glass that has not been cleaned, don't take food or drink from anyone unless it is sealed, Why is this attractive person with a foreign to me accent talking to me, etc.

I know one of the talking points is she is young and probably didn't know, and maybe her coach gave it to her. Any dietary changes that were suggested (especially supplements) to me went through a vetting with a nutritionist, my federations expert on banned substances, my doctor and coach. Nothing went into my body that didn't have that vetting, and this started when I was 14.

If the global ADA and COA let her get away with this, you might as well kill the whole program.