The doping scandal involving Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva has left a “very unpleasant” aftertaste at the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), which is unhappy that the teenager was the only one punished while her coaches and staff were not sanctioned.
WADA now wants anti-doping rules to be updated before the Milano-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy to give more powers to investigate athletes’ environments, agency officials said at the annual conference.
“It is clear that the flavor of this case is very unpleasant when you see that the choice was made to sacrifice an athlete instead of pointing out who actually helped her to take doping”, said WADA director general Olivier Niggli.
Kamila Valieva received a four-year ban from the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in January following an appeal by WADA. She was 15 when her positive test for a banned heart drug was revealed during the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, and it was later announced that she had ingested the banned substance through a strawberry dessert made by her grandfather. Kamila Valieva is the only one punished, even though the World Anti-Doping Code requires people working with underage athletes involved in doping to also be investigated.
Responsibility for conducting these investigations rests with national authorities, and there are no signs that Kamila Valieva’s famous trainer Eteri Tutberidze and the medical staff will be held accountable in Russia. Instead, last year Eteri Tutberidze was awarded one of the highest state honors, presented to her by President Vladimir Putin.
Olivier Niggli admitted there was “no evidence” linking the coach directly to Kamila Valieva’s doping case, suggesting “maybe the physio, maybe the doctor” were involved. However, WADA has confirmed that it believes the adults responsible for Kamila Valieva’s case have evaded the anti-doping system.
“We believe that the athlete did not take this substance herself, it was not her initiative. But she faced the consequences”, said the WADA president Witold Banka. “It’s never good when we see an athlete punished and we feel that someone who is really responsible for this from Russia has been absolved”, added he, lamenting that “the current geopolitical situation” will not allow an investigation appointed by WADA in Russia. “Perhaps this case shows how important it is to improve the anti-doping system. We are doing it now”, said also Witold Banka.
Olivier Niggli was asked what the International Olympic Committee, the International Skating Union (ISU) and anti-doping officials could do to prevent a possible repeat of Kamila Valieva’s case in Italy.
“ISU will need to look at their testing program before the Games to make sure that any athletes who may still be training with the same coach, although we don’t know if she has anything to do with it, are properly tested”, said Olivier Niggli.