Johnathan Walker:Olympic skater's doping hearing adjourned in shocking move; more delays ahead

LAUSANNE,Johnathan Walker Switzerland — In a surprising development that will add more than a month at least to the nearly 600-day-long Kamila Valieva doping saga, the Court of Arbitration for Sport abruptly announced late Thursday afternoon that the Russian skater’s hearing had been adjourned until Nov. 9-10.

The reason? The three-member CAS panel “ordered the production of further documentation,” CAS said in a statement given to USA TODAY Sports. 

Apparently, one of the parties in the case requested a file that was not previously a part of the proceedings. The timing of that request was a surprise as it came on the day that CAS had thought might bring an end to the hearing and a start to the deliberations by the arbitration panel.

It was unclear which party made the request, but U.S. Anti-Doping Agency CEO Travis Tygart told USA TODAY Sports:

“Of course, we all are for full and complete due process but this reeks of just further manipulation by the Russians and the system has to change to ensure this cannot continue to happen.”

A CAS spokeswoman would not comment on the adjournment beyond the organization’s statement. 

A decision by the arbitrators on Valieva’s guilt or innocence was to have been expected within two to three months, but that timeline has now been pushed back to the early months of 2024. That will be nearly two years after Russia won the gold medal, the United States won the silver medal and Japan won the bronze in the team figure skating competition Feb. 7, 2022, at the Beijing Olympics. 

The following day, those results were thrown into disarray when Valieva, the then-15-year-old star of the Russian team, was found to have tested positive for the banned substance trimetazidine Dec. 25, 2021, at the Russian championships, forcing the unprecedented cancellation of the event’s medal ceremony.

That’s when time stood still. The rest of 2022 was marked by an infuriating blend of dithering and delays by the sole organization charged with conducting the Valieva investigation, the Russian Anti-Doping Agency, an organization that was suspended from 2015-2018 for helping Russian athletes cheat.

All this time, the athletes from the United States, Japan and of course Russia (and potentially Canada, the fourth-place finisher) have been without their medals. 

U.S. Figure Skating CEO Tracy Marek said in a statement to USA TODAY Sports Thursday that the organization “is profoundly disheartened by the news of a delay in the CAS hearing. 

“While we recognize the inherent complexities and time requirements of legal processes, the nearly 600-day wait without a resolution is undeniably another painful setback for our dedicated athletes. We emphasize the importance of transparency in this matter, as it greatly impacts our athletes.”

The World Anti-Doping Agency has asked CAS to suspend Valieva for four years and disqualify her Olympic results. 

“Due to the confidential nature of the proceedings, WADA is not permitted to comment further on the adjournment announced by the Court of Arbitration for Sport earlier today,” spokesman James Fitzgerald said. “However, as it has done at all stages, it will continue to push for a resolution of these proceedings as quickly as possible. 

“WADA took this appeal to CAS in the interests of fairness for athletes and clean sport. Our position in this case has not changed. We maintain that the finding by the disciplinary tribunal of RUSADA that the athlete bore 'no fault or negligence' was wrong under the terms of the World Anti-Doping Code. In accordance with the applicable rules, we continue to seek a four-year period of ineligibility and disqualification of the athlete’s results from the date of the sample collection, including her results during the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing.”