Camila Balieva, the protagonist of the doping scandal that covered the entire Olympic Winter Games in Beijing 2022, has been awarded the Order of the Russian Government.
Russia's state-run Ria Novosti news agency said yesterday that the Russian figure skating team received the 'Medal of Friendship', a government decoration.
The Russian figure skating team, which participated in the Beijing Olympics under the name of the Russian Olympic Committee ROC, took first place in the team event with Baliyeva in the lead.
The team event is a team event in which one team from each country competes in singles and pairs, ice dance, and four events, and the scores are added up.
Showing off her overwhelming prowess in her team events, Baliyeva was the most likely gold medal contender in women's single figure skating.
But when Balieva's doping scandal broke out, she became a scandal that shook the entire Olympics.
Balieva has been at the center of her criticism after her banned drug trimetazidine was detected in her doping sample taken last December.
Baliyeva, who denied the allegations of drug use, was ruled by the Court of Arbitration for Sports, CAS, where she eventually competed in her individual event, but she made a number of jumping mistakes, placing her in fourth place.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has decided not to officially recognize Balieva's Olympic record and performance until a conclusion has been reached over the doping controversy.
If a doping investigation reveals a violation of the rules, the figure skating team and figure skating women's singles rankings played by Baliyeva could be reversed, but the Russian government did not care and awarded her a government medal.
The Order of Friendship is the highest rank awarded by the Russian government to medalists in their country who won the Beijing Olympics.
Russia participated in this competition under the name of ROC and finished ninth with 6 gold, 12 silver and 14 bronze.
(Photo = Getty Images Korea)