Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva, who was disqualified by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) for doping, lost not only the most important title, but also the prize money for the competition. So the question is, how much money will this talented figure skating girl who tested positive for trimetazidine lose due to the ban, and how much money has she made so far from figure skating?
Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva
At the end of January this year, CAS disqualified Valieva for 4 years and canceled all her results from December 25, 2021. After the ban, the female figure skater was not entitled to compete or participate in figure skating performances that were supported at the national level. Russians generally believe that Valieva inadvertently took trimetazidine. But CAS's decision proved to be so harsh, because Valieva failed to prove in her defense that she was accidentally exposed to the banned substance.
In March of this year, there was information that Valieva had stopped receiving a scholarship from the President of the Russian Federation. The amount of the presidential scholarship varies from 30,000 rubles (about 2,300 yuan) to 52,000 rubles (about 4,000 yuan) per month, depending on the athlete's place at the Olympics, and the exact amount paid to Valieva is unknown. This happened after she was expelled from the Russian figure skating team for being disqualified. "Valieva was excluded from the list of candidates for the figure skating team of the Russian Federation. Payments for her scholarship for the President of the Russian Federation have also been stopped," the country's sports ministry told Russian domestic media afterwards.
Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva
Valieva must return 2 million rubles (about 157,000 yuan) of prize money for the women's singles champion at the European Figure Skating Championships. After winning the gold medal in women's singles at the European Championships in Tallinn in 2022, Valieva earned $21,000 (about 2 million rubles at the current exchange rate). However, the figure skater will retain the funds he received from other international competitions, including winning two Grand Prix Prix in Canada and Russia, as well as winning all international junior competitions until December 2021.
Valieva did not win the team figure skating event at Beijing 2022 because the IOC has not paid the medal winners. Also, because the International Skating Union (ISU) recalculates competition points, it is not clear which color of medals the Russian national team won. ISU deducted Valieva's points from the Russian team's total, but kept the scores of the other participants who competed with the figure skater unchanged. As a result, the Russian team fell from first to third. Canada, which ranked fourth, appealed to CAS, but the latter has not yet made a ruling.
Valieva at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics
What is certain is that if the Russian team ends up winning a bronze medal or other color medal in the team figure skating event at the Beijing Winter Olympics, some of the Russian participation fee will definitely remain in Valieva's hands. Valieva will receive 4 million rubles (about 315,000 yuan) from the federal and state budgets, as well as from the Olympic Games support fund. In addition, Valieva will receive a sum of cash, about 8 million rubles (about 630,000 yuan).
It is unclear whether Valieva will need to return the funds she received in the previous two seasons at the Russian domestic competition. She won prize money in both official and performance competitions. Exhibition matches may not fall within the scope of CAS adjudication. These include the Channel One Cup in 2022 and 2023, the Championship of the Program "Russian Challenge Cup" and the Russian Jumping Championship.
In 2022, Valieva participated in the Channel One Cup as part of the team of Marc Kondlatyk. She finished second in the singles and second in the team event. Valieva's team received 9.5 million rubles, with each of them getting 800,000 rubles (about 63,000 yuan).
Valieva in an exhibition match
At the Channel One Cup 2023, Valieva was the captain of the blue team, but she did not play due to injury. Valieva's team "earned" a total of 9 million rubles at that event. If this money is distributed among all participants, then each person will get about 500,000 rubles (about 39,000 yuan).
In addition, in December of the 2022-23 season, Valieva won the individual event at the Russian Jumping Championships and finished second with the team in the team event. This will bring her 1.625 million rubles (about 128,000 yuan) in earnings. According to the data, Valieva earned a total of more than 3 million rubles (about 240,000 yuan) in the exhibition match.
How much did Valieva earn in the 2022/23 and 2023/24 seasons, and in the official start of the 2022-23 and 2023-24 seasons, Valieva was also the leader. In the past two years, she has won three sub-stages of the Russian Domestic Grand Prix (500,000 rubles, about 39,000 yuan each), silver and bronze medals in the Russian Championship (1.5 million rubles and 1 million rubles, respectively, about 118,000 yuan and 79,000 yuan), and a silver medal in the 2023 Grand Prix Finals (750,000 rubles, about 59,000 yuan). In addition, she finished first in the overall standings for the 2022-23 season, although she did not win any major tournaments. This brought her an additional prize of 5 million rubles, and her total amount reached 9.75 million rubles (about 768,000 yuan).
A recent photo of K-Bao
Rule-wise, Valieva needs to return these funds to the tournament organizers, since the Russian Championship and other similar tournaments are officially organized. Valieva's earnings from figure skating performances do not need to be refunded. Over the past two years, Valieva has regularly participated in performances. Last year, she played the goddess in Tatiana Nafka's "Shahrezada's Love Story". Although only playing a small role, the figure skater received a huge income of 66.03 million rubles (about 5.2 million yuan) as a result. During the New Year's holidays in 2024, Valieva participated in Nafka's new show "Farm Night", and the exact amount she received is unknown.
In addition, last year Valieva was one of the participants in the "Ice Champions" tour organized by her coach Tutberidze. It's unclear how many games she has played, but the proceeds don't have to be returned. Although Valieva is now not able to participate in state-sponsored exhibition events, the money does not fall under the category of competition prize money.
Despite the fact that there are currently no competitions and prize money, and no participation in figure skating show events supported at the national level, Valieva is still "not short of money". Valieva had previously signed a series of advertising contracts. For example, she is an ambassador for the Puma and Ozon brands, as well as a spokesperson for advertising the "Peace" payment system. The figure skater may have some other contracts. In addition, Valieva appeared on various television programs after being disqualified.