Tatiana Tarasova, the honorary figure skating coach of the former Soviet Union, recently reacted strongly to different statements issued by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) regarding the case of Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva, as well as the case of Chinese swimmers. In both cases, Valieva was disqualified for four years for violating anti-doping rules, while the Chinese swimmer involved was not suspended.
Former Soviet Union Honorary Figure Skating Coach Tatiana Tarasova
Tarasova said WADA is biased against Valieva because of its hostility towards Russia. "There's nothing to hide here. Contained here is an attitude towards the country, an attitude towards Russian girls...... That's what it means now. I hate them. ”
Valieva, who competed at Beijing 2022, finished fourth in the women's singles
On April 22, local time, WADA general counsel Ross Wenzel said that Valieva's doping sample detected 2.1 nanograms of banned substances per milliliter, while the concentration of Chinese athletes was much lower. On January 29 of this year, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled that Valieva had violated anti-doping rules and disqualified her. She won't be able to compete until December 2025. During the ban, Valieva was also unable to train at public skating rinks. On February 7, the CAS published the motive part of Valieva's case. In addition to the banned trimetazidine, three legal drugs, such as L-carnitine, have been found in the figure skater's blood, as well as more than 50 supplements.
Zhang Yufei and Li Bingjie teamed up with teammates Yang Junxuan, Tang Muhan, Dong Jie and Zhang Yifan to win the gold medal in the women's 4x200m freestyle relay at the Tokyo Olympics
On Monday, local time in the United States, WADA held an online press conference to respond to questions from all parties. WADA confirmed that the New York Times reported on Saturday that 23 Chinese swimmers tested positive for the banned drug trimetazidine a month before competing in the Tokyo Olympics. Witold Banka, president of WADA, said, "WADA has followed the proper procedures in every process of this incident and investigated every clue. If we had to do it again, we'd do exactly the same. "We carefully examine the decision of the China Anti-Doping Agency (CHINADA) from every aspect, trace every piece of evidence, and gather further information." "In this case, we have followed the procedures and there is no room for improvement." This means that WADA is firmly defending their position to allow the 23 Chinese swimmers involved to compete in the Tokyo Olympics.