Zhurova advised Valiyeva to return her medals after CAS decision

State Duma deputy and Olympic champion in speed skating Svetlana Zhurova said on February 6 that if she were Russian figure skater Kamila Valiyeva, she would give back the medals, which the athlete was deprived of by the decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

"If I were in Kamila's place - I would give back the medals. I wouldn't be able to get them and realize that they are for me with the wrong energy. <...> In any case, for all of us, Kamila is a champion," she said in an interview with Sovetsky Sport.

According to her, Valieva became a "hostage" of political circumstances. "Many athletes are not even penalized for such violations. Of course, they can be suspended, but after a year at most, they return, and the person is calmly performing," Zhurova said.

She also recalled that, according to the CAS decision, Valieva must return the gold medal of the European Championship 2022 to the Russian figure skater Anna Scherbakova.

This whole story was invented on purpose, Zhurova believes. "Of course, they are doing it intentionally. They want to bump us once again and set us up, as in many other moments," she noted.

Among the awards that should return Valieva, in particular, the gold of the European Championships 2022, gold, silver and bronze medals of the Russian championships, silver of the final of the Grand Prix of Russia, writes the edition.

At the end of January last year CAS found Valieva guilty of violating anti-doping rules. The figure skater was disqualified for four years for the use of trimetazidine. Valieva's defense was based on the fact that the banned drug could have entered her body with a dessert that her grandfather had prepared. CAS recognized the version as untenable.

The period of disqualification of the Russian athlete is counted from December 25, 2021. All results of the athlete from this date are canceled. In March 2024, she was excluded from the Russian national figure skating team.

In July of the same year, CAS rejected the appeal of the Russian Olympic Committee and the Russian Figure Skating Federation to deprive figure skaters, including Valieva, of the gold medal at the 2022 Olympics.