WADA to lodge appeal against Russian Anti-Doping Agency over lifting ban on figure skater

BEIJING, Feb. 11 (Xinhua) -- The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) will lodge an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) regarding the anti-doping case involving a figure skater of the Russian Olympic Committee who tested positive for a prohibited substance in an event prior to Beijing 2022, the organization announced on Friday.

WADA explained in a statement that the athlete's sample was collected in a competition by the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) on Dec. 25, 2021 and transported to the WADA-accredited laboratory in Stockholm, Sweden for analysis which on Feb. 7, 2022 returned an adverse analytical finding for the prohibited substance, trimetazidine.

The athlete was provisionally suspended immediately by RUSADA, but was allowed to continue competing at Beijing 2022 after the RUSADA Disciplinary Committee lifted the ban two days later on a hearing on Feb. 9, according to WADA, which decided to appeal against the the decision to lift the suspension.

WADA's statement came after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and International Skating Union (ISU) announced to appeal against the RUSADA's decision to lift the provisional suspension on Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva earlier on Friday.