Russian President Vladimir Putin has publicly defended his country's female figure skater, Camilla Balieva, who sparked a doping scandal. 



According to foreign media such as Reuters on the 26th local time, President Putin invited the medalists of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics to the Kremlin in Moscow and held an event of encouragement and reward. 



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At the meeting, Putin praised Balieva, saying, "Balieva brought sports to the level of art by performing wonderful performances on the ice. Such perfection cannot be achieved through illegal methods such as drugs or manipulation." 



"We all know that figure skating doesn't require drugs," she said, wrapping up Baliyeva. 



Putin also congratulated her by saying, "Just today, Baliyeva celebrated her 16th birthday. Let's celebrate her together."  



In response, Baliyeva said, "It is an honor to receive her award from her president on her birthday. The support and support of her president has been a great strength," she said, expressing her gratitude. 



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Baliyeva led the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) to the championship with her perfect performance in the figure skating team event at the Beijing Winter Olympics in February. 



However, after her team fight ended, she was embroiled in a 'doping scandal' after the discovery of trimetazidine, a banned substance at the time of the Russian championships in December last year. 



Trimetazidine is a drug used for the treatment of angina and was added to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Banned Substances List in 2014 because it can help improve endurance. 



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Baliyeva denied the allegations of drug use and forced her to compete in the individual Olympics, but she could not overcome the psychological burden and made mistakes, such as falling twice during the performance, and ended up in fourth place. 



The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has decided not to officially recognize Balieva's Olympic records and achievements until a conclusion has been reached over the doping controversy, but Russian authorities do not care and honor Balieva as the gold medalist. 



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(Photo = Reuters Corresponding video capture)