The president of the Russian Olympic committee said Thursday that the country would fight any effort to redistribute medals in the team figure skating competition, even if the star skater Kamila Valieva is eventually disqualified for doping.
Russia won the gold in the team event, in part because of Valieva’s stunning performances. But its Olympic committee soon revealed that Valieva had tested positive for a banned drug in December, setting off a legal dispute that has overshadowed the figure skating competition at the Beijing Games. A panel of arbitrators ruled on Monday that Valieva, 15, could continue competing, but an investigation could eventually lead to her disqualification.
Still, the Russian Olympic committee’s president, Stanislav Pozdnyakov, said Thursday that his organization had sent a letter to skating’s global governing body arguing that “the results of the team competition are not subject to revision under any circumstances, regardless of the outcome of the disciplinary investigation against the athlete.”
Pozdnyakov said his statement was a direct response to remarks by an International Olympic Committee official this week that the results of the team event and the women’s singles competition, which were taking place Thursday with Valieva in first place, were considered “preliminary.”
The I.O.C. has said it will not award medals in either event until Valieva’s doping case is resolved, a process that could take months. Russia pledged to fight any effort to take away medals from its athletes.
Global antidoping rules, Pozdnyakov said, allow a review of the results of a team event only if a doping violation occurred during the Olympic Games.
“We will defend this position consistently in any possible proceedings,” he said.
