Kamila Valieva: Russian figure skater's doping hearing adjourned by Cas until November

Kamila Valieva competing at Beijing Winter Olympics 2022Getty Images

During the team event at the Beijing 2022 Games Valieva became the first woman to land a quadruple jump at a Winter Olympics

Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva's doping case was adjourned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) until November after "further documentation" was requested by the panel.

Valieva's hearing relating to a failed drugs test, which surfaced during the 2022 Winter Olympics, began on Tuesday.

The World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) is appealing at sport's highest court against the findings of a Russian Anti-Doping Agency (Rusada) investigation, which found Valieva bore "no fault or negligence" for the failed test.

Wada, along with the the International Skating Union (ISU), said earlier this year it was "concerned" by the decision to clear Valieva and is appealing for a four-year-ban as well as for all her results from the date of the sample collection on 25 December 2021 to be expunged.

In a statement, Cas said: "After the presentation of evidence by the parties, the panel ordered the production of further documentation and, in order to allow the parties to consider and address such documentation, allowed two further days for the hearing of the appeal."

Wada said on Thursday it is not permitted to comment on the adjournment as proceedings are confidential but said it will "continue to push for a resolution of these proceedings as quickly as possible".

The hearing is set to resume on 9 and 10 November in Lausanne, Switzerland, when the panel will hear the closing submissions and come to a decision.

Valieva tested positive for the banned heart medicine trimetazidine at the Russian national championships in 2021 but the result was only made known in 2022, the day after she helped her team win gold at the Beijing Games.

The then-15-year-old was permitted to compete in the singles event when Cas lifted her provisional ban but left the arena in tears after a number of falls and stumbles meant she slipped from first to fourth place.

Medals are yet to be awarded for the team event, where the United States came second, with Japan finishing third and Canada placing fourth.

The ISU has also asked Cas to determine the final result of the event.

US Figure Skating chief executive Tracy Marek said her governing body is "profoundly disheartened" by the news of the delay.

"While we recognise the inherent complexities and time requirements of legal processes, the nearly 600-day wait without a resolution is undeniably another painful setback for our dedicated athletes," she said in a statement.

"We emphasise the importance of transparency in this matter, as it greatly impacts our athletes."

Earlier this week, American figure skater Vincent Zhou criticised the global anti-doping system and said it is "failing athletes".

Russian athletes were competing under the neutral name of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) in Beijing after Wada banned Russia from all international sport for four years from 2019 because of a doping scandal.

That penalty was reduced by Cas, which ruled that Russian athletes could compete at the Olympics and other international events but the team could not use the Russian name, flag, or anthem.

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