Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva cleared to keep competing at Beijing Olympics

Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva cleared to keep competing at Beijing Olympics

Transcript¹

BEIJING — In a decision that sent shockwaves through the Olympic sports movement, 15-year-old figure skating phenom Kamila Valieva will be allowed to skate Tuesday in the women single skating competition in Beijing.

The ruling was handed down Monday in Beijing by a panel of three arbitrators appointed by the Court of Arbitration² for Sport.

But the International Olympic Committee quickly responded by saying if Valieva wins, she won't be honored until a full investigation³ into doping allegations is complete.

"Should Ms Valieva finish amongst the top three competitors in the Women's Single Skating competition, no flower ceremony and no medal ceremony will take place during the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022," the IOC said in a statement.

The ruling that Valieva can continue to skate in Beijing came after international uproar⁴ over doping by Russia's most high-profile athlete embroiled⁵ the first week of the Winter Olympics.

The panel met for nearly six hours on Sunday, hearing testimony⁶ from Valieva herself and gathering⁷ evidence from other witnesses about a doping sample collected from her in Russia on Dec. 25, 2021.

The sample, tested at a lab in Sweden, showed Valieva used a banned heart medication at some point in the months ahead of the Games.

Many questions still unanswered

In its ruling, the CAS panel focused narrowly on the question of whether Valieva would be allowed to continue skating in the Beijing Olympics.

"Preventing the athlete to compete at the Olympic Games would cause her irreparable harm in these circumstances," said CAS director general Matthieu Reeb at a press conference on Monday, noting that her young age made the case particularly sensitive.

"There were serious issues of untimely notification of the results of the athlete's anti-doping test performed in December 2021," Reeb added. "Such late notification was not her fault."

Reeb finished speaking in Beijing without taking questions from journalists.

The arbitrators didn't explore why Valieva's sample went unreported for more than 40 days - a massive breakdown⁸ in the anti-doping regimen — until after she competed and helped Russia win the Olympic team figure skating competition in Beijing on Feb. 7.

In that event, Valieva emerged as one of the breakout stars of the Winter Games, with a sport-changing performance that included two quadruple jumps.

The 15-year-old was the first female ever to land a quadruple jump in Olympic competition.

In that team event, the U.S. won silver. The U.S. stands to claim the gold if a decision is made that the ROC squad⁹ can't keep its medal.

Almost immediately after Valieva's performance, it was revealed by two drug testing agencies — the International Testing Agency and the World Anti-Doping Agency — that one of her pre-Olympic doping samples showed use of trimetazidine, a banned cardiac drug.

That revelation triggered an international clash between sports officials.

The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee reacted sharply to the CAS ruling, saying it was "disappointed by the message this decision sends."

"This appears to be another chapter in the systemic and pervasive¹⁰ disregard for clean sport by Russia," said Sarah Hirshland, the head of USOPC in a statement.

"It is the collective responsibility of the entire Olympic community to protect the integrity of sport and to hold our athletes, coaches and all involved, to the highest of standards. Athletes have the right to know they are competing on a level playing field. Unfortunately, today that right is being denied."

The USOPC also voiced dismay over the delay in awarding the team figure skating medal because of the Valieva controversy¹¹.

"We are devastated¹² [U.S. skaters] will leave Beijing without their medals in hand, but we appreciate the intention of the IOC to ensure that the right medals are awarded to the right individuals," the statement read.

Officials with the Russian Olympic Committee, meanwhile, have sounded a defiant¹³ tone, saying they intend to claim the medal won by Valieva and other Russian athletes in the team skating competition.

The ROC office in Beijing was shuttered after today's announcement that Valieva will continue competing.

International Olympic Committee officials say they haven't yet established a process for determining who will receive the gold medal in the team skating event, saying only that a decision on that question will come "later."

Suspended then unsuspended

The Russian Anti-Doping Agency — known as RUSADA — initially¹⁴ suspended Valieva but quickly reinstated her after a meeting on Feb. 9 in Moscow. Russian officials insisted Valieva should be allowed to continue skating.

Meanwhile, a constellation¹⁵ of powerful sports organizations, including the IOC, the World Anti-Doping Agency and the International Skating Union, argued she should be disqualified from further Olympic competition.

On one hand the Valieva scandal unfolding on the world stage involves the fate of a 15-year-old girl of incredible talent, whose fate was decided¹⁶ most likely by powerful coaches, sports bureaucrats¹⁷ and politicians.

Questions have been raised repeatedly about her well-being¹⁸ and the pressures she faced as Tuesday's individual women's competition approached — an event she's heavily favored to win.

IOC spokesman Mark Adams said mental health support had been offered to Valieva during the crisis.

"The support is there. But the first and primary obligation is for the team to look after its athlete," he said.

At the same time, this controversy has drawn¹⁹ renewed attention to the pervasive and systemic doping of athletes undertaken by Russian sports teams for years.

Russian doping program uncovered after Sochi Olympics

Russian athletes, including Valieva, are competing in Beijing under a dubious²⁰ punishment regime that includes a ban on the flying of the Russian flag and the playing of the country's national anthem²¹.

Those restrictions²² were put in place after investigations²³ found Russia created a state-sponsored system of doping ahead of the Sochi Winter Olympics in 2014.

According to a report released by the World Anti-Doping Agency in 2016, Russian officials in Sochi would exchange tainted²⁴ urine from their athletes who had been using banned substances with clean samples by passing them through a "mouse hole" drilled into the wall of the anti-doping lab.

When the urine was tested the next day, there were no signs of doping, according to the report.

Russians won 33 medals at the Sochi games - more than doubling their success from four years earlier in Vancouver.

The behavior was so egregious²⁵, WADA recommended all Russian athletes be banned from the 2016 Summer Olympics as a punishment, but the International Olympic Committee refused to take that step.

Instead the IOC has allowed Russians to continue competing at the Olympic Games, with Russian Olympic Committee athletes winning 17 medals in Beijing as of Monday.

While the question of Valieva's eligibility²⁶ is now settled, it's unclear whether this incident — and the black eye it brought to these latest Games — will force the IOC to rethink and toughen its approach to Russia in future competitions.

IOC spokesman Mark Adams has refused to comment on any policy changes that might follow. But he said repeatedly this week he hopes WADA investigators²⁷ will step up their probe into the behavior of the "entourage" around Valieva, including her coaches and doctors.

"We've asked in this case for WADA, we want WADA to investigate the entourage in this case," Adams said.

NPR's Russell Lewis contributed to this report.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 arbitration   

n.调停，仲裁

参考例句：

• The wage disagreement is under arbitration.工资纠纷正在仲裁中。
• Both sides have agreed that the arbitration will be binding.双方都赞同仲裁具有约束力。

3 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

4 uproar   

n.骚动，喧嚣，鼎沸

参考例句：

• She could hear the uproar in the room.她能听见房间里的吵闹声。
• His remarks threw the audience into an uproar.他的讲话使听众沸腾起来。

5 embroiled   

adj.卷入的；纠缠不清的

参考例句：

• He became embroiled in a dispute with his neighbours. 他与邻居们发生了争执。
• John and Peter were quarrelling, but Mary refused to get embroiled. 约翰和彼得在争吵，但玛丽不愿卷入。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

7 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

8 breakdown   

n.垮，衰竭；损坏，故障，倒塌

参考例句：

• She suffered a nervous breakdown.她患神经衰弱。
• The plane had a breakdown in the air,but it was fortunately removed by the ace pilot.飞机在空中发生了故障，但幸运的是被王牌驾驶员排除了。

9 squad   

n.班，小队，小团体；vt.把…编成班或小组

参考例句：

• The squad leader ordered the men to mark time.班长命令战士们原地踏步。
• A squad is the smallest unit in an army.班是军队的最小构成单位。

10 pervasive   

adj.普遍的；遍布的，(到处)弥漫的；渗透性的

参考例句：

• It is the most pervasive compound on earth.它是地球上最普遍的化合物。
• The adverse health effects of car exhaust are pervasive and difficult to measure.汽车尾气对人类健康所构成的有害影响是普遍的，并且难以估算。

11 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

12 devastated   

v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的

参考例句：

• The bomb devastated much of the old part of the city. 这颗炸弹炸毁了旧城的一大片地方。
• His family is absolutely devastated. 他的一家感到极为震惊。

13 defiant   

adj.无礼的，挑战的

参考例句：

• With a last defiant gesture,they sang a revolutionary song as they were led away to prison.他们被带走投入监狱时，仍以最后的反抗姿态唱起了一支革命歌曲。
• He assumed a defiant attitude toward his employer.他对雇主采取挑衅的态度。

14 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

15 constellation   

n.星座n.灿烂的一群

参考例句：

• A constellation is a pattern of stars as seen from the earth. 一个星座只是从地球上看到的某些恒星的一种样子。
• The Big Dipper is not by itself a constellation. 北斗七星本身不是一个星座。

16 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

17 bureaucrats   

n.官僚( bureaucrat的名词复数 )；官僚主义；官僚主义者；官僚语言

参考例句：

• That is the fate of the bureaucrats, not the inspiration of statesmen. 那是官僚主义者的命运，而不是政治家的灵感。 来自辞典例句
• Big business and dozens of anonymous bureaucrats have as much power as Japan's top elected leaders. 大企业和许多不知名的官僚同日本选举出来的最高层领导者们的权力一样大。 来自辞典例句

18 well-being   

n.安康，安乐，幸福

参考例句：

• He always has the well-being of the masses at heart.他总是把群众的疾苦挂在心上。
• My concern for their well-being was misunderstood as interference.我关心他们的幸福，却被误解为多管闲事。

19 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

20 dubious   

adj.怀疑的，无把握的；有问题的，靠不住的

参考例句：

• What he said yesterday was dubious.他昨天说的话很含糊。
• He uses some dubious shifts to get money.他用一些可疑的手段去赚钱。

21 anthem   

n.圣歌，赞美诗，颂歌

参考例句：

• All those present were standing solemnly when the national anthem was played.奏国歌时全场肃立。
• As he stood on the winner's rostrum,he sang the words of the national anthem.他站在冠军领奖台上，唱起了国歌。

22 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

23 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

24 tainted   

adj.腐坏的；污染的；沾污的；感染的v.使变质( taint的过去式和过去分词 )；使污染；败坏；被污染，腐坏，败坏

参考例句：

• The administration was tainted with scandal. 丑闻使得政府声名狼藉。
• He was considered tainted by association with the corrupt regime. 他因与腐败政府有牵连而名誉受损。 来自《简明英汉词典》

25 egregious   

adj.非常的，过分的

参考例句：

• When it comes to blatant lies,there are none more egregious than budget figures.谈到公众谎言，没有比预算数字更令人震惊的。
• What an egregious example was here!现摆着一个多么触目惊心的例子啊。

26 eligibility   

n.合格，资格

参考例句：

• What are the eligibility requirements? 病人被选参加试验的要求是什么？ 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 回顾与展望
• Eligibility for HINARI access is based on gross national income (GNI). 进入HINARI获取计划是依据国民总收入来评定的。

27 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》