Russian Skater caught with PEDs STILL allowed to compete.

Never said that they should be allowed to.

It is a question of punishment beyond disqualification in the event.

Because the balance of equities, in the minds of the CAS panel members, did not support her ban from this specific competition. While those considerations do include the equities of the other skaters, they are primarily focused on Valieva, who was the subject of the proceeding.

I don’t know if CAS’s review of the Russian ruling is de novo, or on what specific grounds, if any, the appeal was taken (of his could affect the scope of consideration at the CAS), or if there is an automatic right of appeal by the likes of the IOC, etc.

It is easy to imagine how the balance of equities in this situation would favor letting her compete. While it may indeed be “unfair” (as you put it) to her competitors to let her compete, it may also be “more unfair” to Valieva to not let her compete.

It was an IOC appeal and she still awaits a decision if she will be banned retroactively.

This young skater is clearly a victim of abuse. Reading about her coach is scary. The coach has a long history of manipulative and abusive behavior of those she coaches. She does churn out champions, but often they are wrecked by the time they are 17. The large majority are wrecked without becoming champions. The coach (and I’m sure others in her orbit) have little regard for the rules or common decency. There is zero chance this 15 year old had any discretion, and likely no knowledge, of what she was taking. The coach deserves a lifetime ban, but the skater should get a pass. This situation is not equivalent to Shelby and I think given her age and circumstances mitigation of the penalty is appropriate.

Google translate must have trouble translating whiny snow flake Russian in English, bc your comments make zero sense.

The first thing that’s clear is that nothing is clear.

There is very small equivalent to Shelby in the delay between test and notification. Something CAS were quite critical of.

This solution is not fair to the other competitors. If she gets a pass simply due to the fact that she is young, it will encourage every young athlete to dope because they know they are able to get a pass.

Athletes test positive for PEDs and appeal all the time. Positive test results are overturned all the time. This is nothing new. Every athlete should have the athlete to defend themselves. To deny her the opportunity to skate right now would be to deny her the right to defend herself. That would be wrong. The CAS made the right decision. Let her skate for now, then hear the appeal, then hand out the medals.

Also, everyone in the world has the "under 16" rule wrong as well. It basically means that because she is under 16, she's a protected person, and governing bodies cannot release all information regarding this case.

Translation: there's more to this story then we know. The CAS could very well have exonerating information that they cannot release to the public. We just don't know right now.

But in normal life minors get a pass of some nature.Still get a conviction but a different penalty.

We await the outcome of the proper hearing but how do you hold a 15 year old responsible for what they are fed at home.

I think she will get disqualified from the Russian comp and no ban.Wada may well appeal and CAS will then have to work out what a “protected minor” actually means.

It may well be by then that it will be narrowed down to contamination speculation via some unknown or unknowable method.

She tested negative at the Olympics. The only "unfairness" is the U.S. had to win a Silver in this event, and Canada won 4th place. Remove Russia to boost the U.S. medal count.

The exonerating information is that she tested clean at the Olympics.

Good point; but CAS made ref to such in their decision so there has no be more than just not releasing the name. Perhaps every single law in the world ( by and large I think)requires minors to be treated differently.

Yes, this is very true. It is why I wrote that it is easy to “imagine” how the decision could have gone this way.

I also agree with the previous poster who basically re-iterated what I said earlier, that the coach is a nutjob.

Nukes.

We just don't know what it is. I was actually thinking of Brenda Martinez. If memory serves, she initially tested positive for a banned substance, but that was later overturned because the positive test was caused by some sort of mental health medication. And Brenda did not want to disclose that she had mental health issues. (apologies to Brenda if I botched this explanation).

There might be similar exonerating explanations for Kamila which cannot legally be released to the public because she is under 16.

She tested negative before the Olympics, according to the ROC. The CAS decision seems support that, and likely has seen in competition test results (fast tracked) showing no positive results. Under what other scenario would CAS would allow her to compete?

In the Brenda Martinez situation it was one of those don't-use-it-if-you-don't-have-a-prescription type drugs ... you might hurt yourself. No prescription means a ban. Have a prescription and you are allowed to compete for medals.

metro.us

Olympics-Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva’s failed drug test

Metro US

BEIJING (Reuters) – Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva has been cleared nL8N2UP0C8 by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to compete in the women’s singles at the Beijing Olympics following a failed test for a banned s...

Open link

Going to ask my cardiologist for some of this stuff.

So we see that yet another Russian has doped. We also see there's always an excuse, no matter how far-fetched, and that the athlete in question can still compete. So much for "zero tolerance" of doping. Meanwhile, all the other doped athletes are congratulating themselves on not getting caught, and the fans cling to their fantasies that doping is a rarity confined to innocent 15 year-old girls.