An expected star of the Games, just 15, Valieva helped Russia win team gold on Monday.

Before the announcement of a positive control for trimetazidine, a prohibited substance, carried out after his participation in an event in Saint Petersburg on December 25.

The ITA, the body responsible for the Games' anti-doping program, explained on Friday that the Stockholm laboratory responsible for analyzing the sample only reported the Russian's positive test on Tuesday, the day after the competition. by team in Beijing.

That it took nearly six weeks for Valieva's positive test to come to light, "is a catastrophic failure of the system dedicated to protecting the integrity of the Games and the clean athletes who were in the running," Tygart told AFP. AFP.

"This should not have happened", he insisted, explaining that the American anti-doping agencies and other nations "regularly accelerate the obtaining of the results of the tests" carried out by the athletes engaged in the major competitions, precisely to avoid such a situation.

“We stay up all night for them to have these results”, soon enough.

Valieva's sample could have been analyzed fairly quickly because trimetazidine - used to relieve angina pectoris and banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) since 2014 because it is believed to promote blood circulation - is not produced naturally by the human body.

"That it took so long, at this level of competition, is a catastrophic failure of the system. It's inexcusable," he said.

"Mess"

Valieva was handed a provisional suspension by the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) on Wednesday, but she challenged the suspension, which was immediately lifted the same day.

The skater is now suspended from a decision by the Sports Court (CAS), expected before the start of the individual event scheduled for Tuesday.

Tygart said he was not surprised by RUSADA's lifting of Valieva's suspension, given Russia's recent history of doping scandals.

The boss of the American Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), Travis Tygart, on February 28, 2017 in Washington ALEX WONG GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP/Archives

"This should not shock anyone. RUSADA was at the center of the system allowing their athletes to conceal their testing and participate in the fraud of the state-sponsored doping system," Mr. Tygart recalled, while expressing some compassion for Valieva, a 15-year-old girl "crushed by the system".

"Whatever the consequence of his offence, it could have already been settled by now and we could have avoided this mess," added the man who has always advocated for tougher sanctions against Russia, excluded. for two years of major international competitions in 2020.

"This is the sixth time since 2012 that Russia has tainted the Olympics. The meager punishment imposed on them has not changed their habits. It's just a shame for all athletes around the world who suffer from it”, still plagued Mr. Tygard.

The Valieva case could be the subject of a sanction under the Rodchenkov law, which allows American justice to prosecute anyone involved in a doping case in an international competition.

“If there was a doctor, a trainer or an individual who knowingly conspired to dope her with this drug, then the Rodchenkov law fits her like a glove,” he warned.

© 2022 AFP