Russian determine skater Kamila Valieva faces a possible four-year doping ban which might rule her out of the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina d’Ampezzo, the Court of Arbitration for Sport mentioned Monday.

CAS mentioned it had registered an enchantment from the World Anti-Doping Agency, which mentioned final week it was taking the case to the Switzerland-based tribunal. WADA argues Russian officers haven’t made progress in resolving the 16-year-old Valieva’s case practically a yr after she examined constructive for a coronary heart medicine banned in sports activities.

The CAS assertion mentioned WADA is searching for “the athlete be sanctioned with a four-year interval of ineligibility beginning on the date on which the CAS award enters into pressure.” If granted, that will cowl the subsequent Olympics in Italy.

WADA additionally needs Valieva to be disqualified from all competitions since December 2021, when she gave a pattern which later examined constructive. That would come with dropping the gold medal she gained within the group occasion on the Beijing Olympics in February, when she was 15.

Pandemic-related delays on the Swedish laboratory processing Valieva’s pattern meant the consequence was solely revealed after she had gained the group gold. A earlier CAS panel opted towards a provisional suspension and allowed Valieva to maintain skating within the particular person occasion, the place she positioned fourth. Her age was an element within the determination to let her skate.

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