Controversial figure skater Kamila Valieva is poised to compete in Russia this weekend despite a doping case looming over her head.
The 15-year-old was eliminated from medal contention in the women's singles event at the 2022 Winter Olympics in February.
Despite a failing drug test discovered after she had assisted the Russian Olympic Committee in winning the team event, she was allowed to compete.
Valieva will compete in Saransk for the Channel One Cup.
It's a Russian-only competition held in conjunction with the World Championships.
Because of sanctions implemented following Russia's invasion of Ukraine, figure skaters from Russia and Belarus are barred from competing in the World Championships in Montpellier, France, which run from Wednesday to Sunday.
Valieva's case was one of the most infamous tales from the Beijing Olympics. The teenager was hailed as the first woman to land a quadruple leap in a Winter Olympics, which she did in the team event.
However, a failed drugs test in December 2021, in which Valieva tested positive for the banned cardiac medicine trimetazidine, was discovered only days before the team event medal celebration.
After a series of appeals and re-appeals, a court verdict lifted her provisional ban, allowing her to compete in the singles.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) cited her age and the timing of the test result, which arrived during the Games and roughly six weeks after the sample was taken, as "exceptional circumstances."
It further said that not allowing Valieva to compete would cause her "irreparable harm."
Valieva, on the other hand, departed the arena in tears after a series of slips and falls dropped her from first place after the short program to fourth place after the free skate - and out of contention for the medals.
The doping case is still being worked out. The Russian anti-doping organization (Rusada) has six months from the date of Valieva's offence notification to make a judgment on any consequence. This could result in the decision being postponed until august.
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