Figure skater Kamila Valieva will testify by video at an appeal hearing Sunday that will decide if the 15-year-old Russian star can still compete at the Beijing OIympics despite an ongoing doping case.
BEIJING —
Three CAS judges are hearing arguments in a closed-door session in a conference room at a Beijing hotel. Lawyers and officials for the parties are connecting to the case in the Winter Games host city and from Switzerland. Reeb said witnesses and experts would also be involved. with a dynamic free skate in which she became the first woman to land a quad jump in Olympic competition.On several occasions, the stress appeared to have rattled Valieva, including during Saturday's practice when she fell and tearfully hugged her“Kamila is a strong girl,” offered Russian ice dancer Nikita Katsalapov, who along with her partner, Victoria Sinitsina, have tried to provide Valieva“Victoria had a few minutes to share some words with her,” Katsalapov said.
“Let's be kind to the 15-year-old who produced a positive drug test because she lives in an institutionalized system where she was most likely guided and trusted the adults around her,” tweeted Mirai Nagasu, a member of the U.S. figure skating team four years ago at the Pyeongchang Games.