Kamila Valieva, once a 15-year-old gold medal favorite, was punished in a case that upended the Beijing Games, and kept other athletes from receiving medals.

Travis Tygart, the chief executive of the United States Anti-Doping Agency, said in an interview on Monday that the Valieva matter was a failure of the antidoping system that was “completely avoidable.” Knowing Valieva was an Olympic favorite, Russia should have expedited the analysis of the urine sample that was later found to be positive, he said; had it done so, she would have been barred from competing.

The distrust in Russia’s ability to handle any investigation into the case had been present from the moment the stunning news of Valieva’s positive had emerged. But under the rules of international sports, it was Russia’s antidoping agency — an organization that itself had only just returned from a yearslong suspension for its role in one of the biggest cheating scandals in sports history — that was required to rule first.

The process was delayed as the Russian antidoping body, known as RUSADA, dragged out an initial inquiry into how a banned substance had found its way into Valieva’s system. Its surprising exoneration of her, and its contention that she could not be held responsible, was seized upon by the International Skating Union, figure skating’s governing body, and WADA.

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/29/world/europe/kamila-valieva-russia-doping-figure-skating.html