Sports tribunal to hear evidence in Olympic figure skating doping scandal

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• Amna Nawaz:

  Nineteen months after the Winter Olympics ended in Beijing, one medal ceremony for the U.S. figure skating team has still not been held. It all goes back to a doping scandal that erupted during the games back in February of 2022.

  Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva, then 15 years old, helped lead her team to a gold medal with a stunning performance. The U.S. team won silver and Japan won bronze. But as the athletes prepared for the medal ceremony, news suddenly broke that Valieva had tested positive for a banned performance-enhancing heart medication months earlier.

  Valieva claims the medicine was her grandfather's and she accidentally ingested some of it. The Olympics medal ceremony was indefinitely delayed. Since then, it's been tied up in a long appeals process. And it's the subject of a hearing this week in Switzerland by an international sports tribunal.

  Christine Brennan is there covering it for USA Today. She joins us now.

  Christine, it's good to see you. Thanks for joining us.

  Christine Brennan , USA Today: My pleasure. Thank you, Amna Nawaz.

• Amna Nawaz:

  So, this positive test from Valieva was nearly 600 days ago. The hearing is just starting this week. And now we understand it's been delayed even further.

  Why is this dragging out so long?

• Christine Brennan :

  That's a great question.

  It's the question these athletes in particular would like to know. They won those medals. Look, winning a gold medal or silver or bronze is the highlight of one's career. And you want to actually have that medal. This is unprecedented.

  Never before has there been an Olympic event held and no medal ceremony. And the fact that it will be 600 days on Saturday is absolutely extraordinary. And it's one of those things that is the loveliest and really the simplest of all events and things at the Olympics, is to give out that gold medal to that deserving athlete.

  So, what has happened is that there have been, as you mentioned, delays. And, this week, the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which is the Supreme Court, so to speak, for international sports, has been meeting, and I have been covering it.

  I have not been in the meeting room. It's a closed hearing. And as they were ready to basically, we thought, finish their deliberations and then start with the actual decision-making process over the next month or two, they abruptly adjourned, and they said they need more documents.

  And that really surprised everybody, because as you said, almost 600 days and you still need another document? Infuriating news for the U.S. figure skating team and the others as well.

• Amna Nawaz:

  So what are the possible outcomes from this hearing? What could we possibly see end up when all this is said and done? And when do you expect this to be ending?

• Christine Brennan :

  Right.

  Well, there's two options, really. Kamila Valieva, you mentioned, 15 years old, she's a protected person, otherwise known as a minor. So she might get a slap on the wrist and leniency just because of that. But if she is found innocent, then the order of the medals would stay the same, Russia — presumably, Russia, U.S. and Japan.

  But if she is found guilty, then one would assume — and, again, who knows what this story — I have never seen anything quite like this. But you would presume then that the U.S. would move up, Russia would be disqualified, because of using this athlete who would then deemed to be using a performance-enhancing drug and doping.

  U.S. would move up to the gold, Japan would move up to the silver, and then Canada, which finished in fourth place, would move up to the bronze. You asked when this could happen? Well, obviously, if the event, if the hearing had stopped today, they would take between one and three months to then render the verdict.

  Now that the hearing is being postponed for six weeks — there's a lot of numbers and a lot of Alphabet soup with all these organizations — but the Court of Arbitration for Sport now will come back on November 9 and look at this new documentation that they wanted to see.

  So, then, from that point, the clock starts again, and it would be between one and three months. So now we're pushing it into 2024. And, basically, a decision probably, Amna, that will not be made until the two-year anniversary of those Olympic Games, February of 2022.

• Amna Nawaz:

  It's just remarkable.

  And, Christine, what about how other skaters are viewing this? I mean, most of the members, I understand, of the U.S. team have been relatively quiet.

  Male single skater Vincent Zhou issued a lengthy, frustrated statement saying, in part: "Justice delayed is justice denied. My teammates and I will never get back the chance to stand before the world to celebrate a lifetime's worth of hard work culminating in a career-defining achievement."

  Is that, Christine, sort of the sentiment among most of the athletes you're talking to?

• Christine Brennan :

  It certainly is. There are nine members of the U.S. figure skating team. This is a team competition, not the individual competition we're so used to in figure skating.

  And all nine of them wrote a letter a month ago to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, CAS, where I am this week in Lausanne, and asked, could they have a seat at the hearing? Could they just sit there and be one of them, one representative? And they were told no. No, you can't come.

  Again, this is a closed hearing. But, in this case, I thought they were incredibly classy and dignified when they said, could we come and watch this? Because, of course, this is determining our fate as either silver medalists or gold medalists, which also can impact the earning potential for those athletes.

  And, as I said, the Court of Arbitration for Sport said, no. No, it's closed. And if Kamila Valieva had wanted the U.S. team to be able to have a representative or wanted this to be a public hearing, then it would have been a public hearing.

  So this was Kamila Valieva and her lawyers basically deciding, no. No one can see this. And, in fact, she, irony of all ironies, while the U.S. wanted to come, she did not show up. And she did testify on Tuesday via video, which is allowed.

• Amna Nawaz:

  Just a remarkable turn of events. And, still, this process is not over.

  Christine Brennan of USA Today covering this hearing for us and joining us tonight.

  Christine, thank you. It's always good to see you.

• Christine Brennan :

  Amna, my pleasure. Thank you.

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