Russian Skater Blames Grandfather's Medication

Kamila Valieva breaks silence on controversy
By Newser Editors,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 15, 2022 8:11 AM CST
Russian Skater Blames Grandfather's Medication
Kamila Valieva competes in the women's short program during the figure skating at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2022, in Beijing.   (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Lawyers for the Russian figure skater embroiled in a doping scandal at the Olympics says her grandfather's heart medication is to blame. Kamila Valieva, 15, failed a drug test but has been allowed to continue skating at the Games. At a hearing Sunday night, her lawyers made the case that a banned drug showed up in her system because she inadvertently ingested it, reports the AP.

"There can be completely different ways how it got (into Valieva's body)," an attorney for the teen said, per a Russian-language outlet cited by USA Today. "For example, (her) grandfather drank something from a glass, saliva got in (and) this glass was somehow later used by the athlete." The drug in question is called trimetazidine, which the teen's grandfather takes to ward off angina attacks, said the lawyer. International Olympic Committee member Denis Oswald confirmed that the skater's legal team “presented elements that brought some doubts about her guilt." (More Kamila Valieva stories.)

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