Kamila Valieva remains at the centre of a legal battle over the #FigureSkating team gold, due a reported failed drugs test from December.

The Russian skated on the practice ice this morning, and at present remains in line to compete on Tuesday and Thursday.

#Beijing2022
It pains me to say it but @jtoneysbeat is bob on here.

Kamila Valieva has been badly let down by those around her, and now the 15-year-old has the world scrutinising her when she should be in the middle of one of the greatest Olympic performances.

@jtoneysbeat I have always thought it weird that under-16s are allowed to compete.

In most countries, they are not allowed to marry or own property or have sex - but they are allowed to train and compete under the highest pressure.

Kamila Valieva's plight is just another example of that.

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More from @jamesgraysport

Feb 22
I am now back from #Beijing2022 and have had a proper sleep so feel ready to reflect. It's been an experience not many people will ever have had or get the chance to have, so it feels worth devoting a little thread of conclusions to it.

🧵
1. Bubbles are hard

I have a whole new respect and sympathy for sports people who have been bubbling round the world. After 2+ weeks, the monotony of even things you liked at the beginning becomes extremely tough. It is as much about the loss of control as the situation itself.
2. China ain't exactly snowy

Fake snow has become part of the Winter Olympics - thanks climate change - but this was the first 100 per cent fake snow Games, and Hebei province is a very dry place.

These were not the Green Games, they were the Brown Games.
Read 11 tweets
Feb 18
Wow. Thomas Bach goes after the entourage of Kamila Valieva.

"She was received with such tremendous coldness. It was chilling."

#Beijing2022 #FigureSkating
More from Thomas Bach on Eteri Tutberidze and co (although did not use her name, but clear who he was talking about).

"You could feel this chilling atmosphere, this distance."

Bach also mentions TV pictures of Trusova in distress and her comments afterwards.

#Beijing2022
"All of this does not give me much confidence in this closest entourage of Kamila...neither with regard to what happened in the past nor as far as it concerns the future. How to deal, how to address, how to treat a minor athletes and under such an obvious mental stress."
Read 5 tweets
Feb 14
BREAKING: Kamila Valieva WILL compete tomorrow in the #figureskating after the Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld her appeal against suspension.

She will be allowed to compete - but the overall case of her failed test will be investigated after the Games.

#Beijing2022
Full reasonings behind Kamila Valieva decision here:

The Kamila Valieva reasons are:

- the standard of evidence for minors in doping is different
- not letting her compete would cause 'irreparable harm'
- she did not test positive during the Olympic Games
- the positive test was too late to allow her to establish a proper defence
Read 6 tweets
Feb 11
BREAKING: The International Testing Agency (ITA) have confirmed that a sample taken from Kamila Valieva, 15, on 25 December 2021, returned positive for banned substance trimetazidine.

#Beijing2022
According to ITA, Kamila Valieva was provisionally suspended from competition on 8 February, the day after Russia won gold in the team #figureskating.

The decision was challenged, and heard on Wednesday evening. The Russian Anti-Doping Agency accepted the appeal and lifted ban.
IOC say they are appealing the decision to lift Kamila Valieva's suspension to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

There will be an expedited process in an effort to return a decision before she competes again on Tuesday.

#FigureSkating
Read 9 tweets
Feb 10
IOC's Mark Adams quizzed on the Kamila Valieva drugs case.

"I'm not going to comment on all sorts of speculation that I have seen. We had a situation arise yesterday at short notice that has legal implications. I'm not going to comment because it wouldn't be appropriate."
IOC's Mark Adams refuses even to comment on which body is handling this case.

Helpful.

#Beijing2022
Meanwhile, Kamila Valieva (who did not train yesterday) is out on the practice ice as we speak, as per @rockerskating (who I recommend following if you are really interested).

#Beijing2022
Read 7 tweets
Nov 17, 2021
NEW

An International Olympic Committee spokesperson has told me the IOC are "encouraged by assurances that Peng Shuai is safe. We are touch with the International Tennis Federation who continue to monitor the situation.”

#WhereIsPengShuai
I didn't expect much more or different, but it is a pretty weak statement and is almost exactly the same as the opening lines of the ATP statement.

I appreciate this is a delicate situation and there may be further back-channels conversations going on but still: weak.
None of these "assurances" have come from reliable sources outside China, and no one has been able to contact her in any of the normal ways.

If she really was safe, well and not being at the very least censored, we would have heard from her.

#WhereIsPengShuai
Read 7 tweets

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