In a long-awaited decision, the Court of Arbitration for Sport has handed down a four-year ban to Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva for her involvement in the doping scandal during the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. Valieva, who was just 15 at the time of the scandal, had tested positive for traces of a banned heart medication. The ban will be effective as of December 2021, and she will have to forfeit any titles, awards, medals, profits, and prizes earned since then.
The decision has sparked conversation about the disparities in how athletes are treated based on their backgrounds. Track-and-field athlete Sha’Carri Richardson, a black woman, was banned from competing in the 2021 Tokyo Games for marijuana use following the death of her mother. This juxtaposition highlights the selective sympathy shown to athletes in different circumstances, with Russia being allowed to get away with doping violations while others face stricter consequences.
As a result of Valieva’s disqualification, the United States will receive a retroactive gold medal in the team competition of the 2022 Games. The ongoing disparities in how athletes are treated based on their backgrounds raise questions about the fairness and integrity of sports competitions. Despite calls for stricter enforcement of doping rules, the issue of selective sympathy towards athletes remains a contentious one in the world of sports.
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