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Kamila Valieva, of the Russian Olympic Committee, wipes her eyes during a training session at the 2022 Beijing Olympics, on Feb. 13.David J. Phillip/The Associated Press

Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva can compete in the remainder of the Beijing Winter Olympics despite failing a doping test in December, sport’s highest court ruled Monday, but the scandal is not going away any time soon.

Ms. Valieva last week helped lift her team into the gold medal position in the team skate, but both that result and the 15-year-old’s continued involvement in the Games were thrown into doubt one day later with revelations that she had failed a doping test.

That test had been taken in December, but the positive result for banned heart medication trimetazidine was not reported until more than a month later, by a laboratory in Sweden. Russia’s anti-doping agency, which had cleared Ms. Valieva to take part in the Olympics, blamed the delay on lab staffing problems caused by the coronavirus.

Decision to let Kamila Valieva continue competing in Beijing is yet another doping joke in a long-running farce

Multiple bodies, including the International Olympic Committee, or IOC, appealed Russia’s decision to allow Ms. Valieva to skate after news of the positive test. Her test result sparked anger and widespread criticism over the continued involvement of Russian athletes in the Olympics, after the country was banned for several years for widespread doping. Ms. Valieva and her compatriots are competing under the banner of the Russian Olympic Committee.

In a decision Monday, the Court of Arbitration for Sport, or CAS, dismissed the appeals and lifted a provisional suspension imposed on Ms. Valieva, who has been training ahead of the women’s solo event, which begins Tuesday.

Speaking to journalists in the Chinese capital, CAS director-general Matthieu Reeb cited Ms. Valieva’s age and the “irreparable harm” she might suffer were she kicked out of the Olympics. He refused to answer any questions about the scandal and left after reading a short statement.

In a statement, CAS noted that Ms. Valieva “did not test positive during the Olympic Games in Beijing and is still subject to a disciplinary procedure on the merits following the positive anti-doping test undertaken in December, 2021.”

The court criticized the “serious issues of untimely notification of the results” in its decision, but noted “such late notification was not her fault, in the middle of the Olympic Winter Games.”

While few commentators have blamed Ms. Valieva, pointing the finger instead at her coaching team, the decision to clear her – and the potential she may yet be awarded one, if not two, gold medals – sparked outrage.

“While we trust that the CAS decision was the result of a fair process, we are extremely disappointed with this result,” said Tricia Smith, president of the Canadian Olympic Committee. “The COC is fully committed to clean sport and we firmly believe that no one involved in doping or other corrupt practices has a place in the Olympic movement.”

Her American counterpart was even more damning: United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee chief executive officer Sarah Hirshland said the case “appears to be another chapter in the systemic and pervasive disregard for clean sport by Russia.”

“Athletes have the right to know they are competing on a level playing field. Unfortunately, today that right is being denied,” Ms. Hirshland added.

“We know this case is not yet closed, and we call on everyone in the Olympic movement to continue to fight for clean sport on behalf of athletes around the world.”

USA Today columnist Christine Brennan described it as a “dark day” in the fight against doping, while the advocacy group Global Athlete said the current system was in need of urgent reform.

“The fact that Kamila Valieva, a 15-year-old Russian figure skater, has been found to have a performance-enhancing substance in her system is evidence of abuse of a minor,” Global Athlete said in a statement. “Sport should be protecting its athletes, not damaging them.”

It added that Ms. Valieva would never have been put in this position had CAS, the World Anti-Doping Agency and the IOC “done their jobs and banned Russia from global sport.”

“Russia has never been incentivized to reform because sport leaders favoured politics over principle and rebranding over banning,” the statement continued.

While the immediate problem of whether Ms. Valieva could compete this week has been solved, the question of whether she will be awarded any medals remains.

The court said that “it was not requested to rule on the merits of this case, nor to examine the legal consequences relating to the results of the team event in figure skating, as such issues will be examined in other proceedings.”

That examination is not likely to be completed before the Beijing Games closing ceremony on Sunday, robbing the athletes of a chance to stand on the podium in front of the world.

In a statement following the CAS decision, the IOC said that holding a medals ceremony “would not be appropriate” as it would “include an athlete who, on the one hand has a positive A-sample, but whose violation of the anti-doping rules has not yet been established on the other hand.”

No ceremony will be held for the women’s solo skate either, should Ms. Valieva rank in the top three as expected, the IOC added.

Should Ms. Valieva’s team be disqualified from the team event as a result of her doping test, that could put the United States into gold position and Japan into silver, and pull Canada up into bronze.

Two of the skaters on that Canadian team were on the ice Monday, hours before the CAS decision was announced. Speaking to The Globe and Mail after a seventh-place finish in the ice dance, Paul Poirier said that this was “something that’s not in our hands,” adding he and partner Piper Gilles have tried not to think about it.

American ice dancer Evan Bates, part of the silver-place team, said that, “I hope the resolution, when it does come, will bring some closure for everybody involved.”

“And we can all move on from this and hopefully have a moment where we can stand on the podium,” he added. “Because our team earned a medal and we really want that moment.”

With a report from Reuters.

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