Kamila Valieva, the 15-year-old Russian figure skater who tested positive for a banned substance, will not receive a medal if she wins again in Beijing, the International Olympic Committee has confirmed.
On Sunday, February 13, Valieva was cleared to continue competing at the Beijing Winter Olympics due to "exceptional circumstances" - despite failing the doping test when trimetazidine, a heart medication, was detected in her urine sample.
However, despite being free to compete at the Winter Olympics, the IOC said on Monday that until her case has drawn to a close, the teenager will not receive either a gold, silver, or bronze medal if she finishes in the top three of her next competition.
If Valieva does finish in the top three, a medal ceremony for the event will not take place. This essentially means that all of the top three winners in the competition will have to wait for the case to conclude before they are given their medals.
The IOC said in a statement: "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 committee also confirmed that Valieva and her Russian Olympic Committee teammates will not yet be given their gold medals after winning the team event during the opening weekend of the Winter Olympics.
A medal ceremony for that event will not be taking place, according to the IOC. This means that Team USA and Japan, who finished second and third respectively, will have to wait for their silver and bronze medals.
The Canadian team finished in fourth place, which means they will be promoted to bronze if Russia is disqualified from the event due to Valieva's positive doping test.
The IOC continued in its statement: "In the interest of fairness to all athletes and the NOCs concerned, it would not be appropriate to hold the medal ceremony for the figure skating team event during the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 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."
