BEIJING (AP) — Kamila Valieva is allowed to skate.
The Russian teenager and gold medal favorite has been cleared to compete in the women’s figure skating competition at the Winter Olympics despite failing a pre-Games drug test.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport released its ruling less than 12 hours after a hastily arranged hearing, deciding the 15-year-old does not need to be provisionally suspended ahead of a full investigation.
The court gave her a favorable decision in part because she was a minor or “protected person” and was subject to different rules from an adult athlete.
Valieva tested positive for a banned medication after winning the Russian national championship. She helped the Russia Olympic Committee take gold in the team competition before reports surfaced about her failed test.
Also at Beijing:
— Kaillie Humphries has captured a third Olympic gold medal, and her first for the U.S. The former Canadian bobsledder was an easy winner of the inaugural women’s monobob event. It’s the first sliding medal for the U.S. in seven events so far at the Beijing Games. American Elana Meyers Taylor was second. It was the fourth medal of Meyers Taylor’s career, the most won by anyone in USA Bobsled history.
— Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron of France broke their own ice dance world record while winning the Olympic gold medal that narrowly eluded them four years ago in Pyeongchang. The last figure skaters on the ice for the free dance, Papadakis and Cizeron scored 136.15 points for their performance on Monday. That gave them 226.98 points, beating their previous mark of 226.61 set at the 2019 NHK Trophy in Japan.
— The longtime American ice dance duo of Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue claimed bronze in their final Olympics. Another set of Americans, Madison Chock and Evan Bates, finished just off the podium in fourth place.
— US Slopestyle silver medalist Julia Marino has dropped out of the snowboard big air contest after a fall in practice. The 24-year-old Marino was set to jump 23rd in the 30-snowboarder field during qualifying Monday, just ahead of 2018 gold medalist Anna Gasser of Austria. Team USA snowboarding said in a statement that Marino fell during practice a few days ago and is “prioritizing her health.”
— Canadian forward Melodie Daoust has returned to the lineup for the women’s hockey semifinal game against Switzerland. Daoust missed four games after being sidelined with an upper-body injury sustained in the second period of a 12-1 preliminary round-opening win over the Swiss.
