Kamila Valieva: Figure skater could not have achieved “perfection” in doping, says Vladimir Putin

“It is absolutely impossible to achieve such perfection by unfair methods, with the help of additional substances and manipulations,” said the Russian president on Tuesday.

“There is no place for such additional methods in the sport of figure skating, and we all know it well and understand it,” Putin said at a ceremony recognizing Russia’s medalists at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Games on Tuesday, Russian state media TASS reported.

Valieva has been embroiled in a doping controversy at the Beijing 2022 Olympics after testing positive for the banned substance trimetazidine, which is commonly used to treat angina and can improve endurance by increasing blood flow to the heart.

Although the 15-year-old failed a drugs test ahead of the Olympics in December, the result only came to light during the competition, when it was analyzed and reported to the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) in February.

Valieva was then suspended the day after she led the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) to a gold medal in the team event, where she became the first woman to land a quadruple jump at the Winter Olympics. It is still unclear whether the medal will be revoked.

She was later cleared by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to compete in the women’s individual figure skating competition, where she fell several times, left the ice in tears and eventually finished fourth.

Valieva attributed the positive test to a mix-up with her grandfather’s medication, as he uses trimetazidine for his heart condition.

Russia’s history of widespread doping is well documented; In 2019, Russian athletes were banned from international competitions by WADA for doping violations. On appeal, the CAS ruled that individual Russian athletes could participate but would present themselves as “neutral athletes” unable to use the Russian name, flag or anthem.

“The whole country as well as figure skating fans around the world have supported Kamila,” Putin said on Tuesday, according to TASS.

“She managed to accumulate her talent, all the most complicated elements of figure skating, her plasticity, beauty, strength and tenderness, as well as her hard work to bring this sport to the level of true art,” he said.

Putin’s comments came as the sporting world continues to shun Russia in response to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.