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[이데일리 스타in 이석무 기자] Figure skating women’s single ‘record maker’ Camilla Balieva (16, Russian Olympic Committee), who was found guilty of doping violations, will be able to participate in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics dramatically.
The Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) rejected the objection jointly filed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the International Skating Union (ISU) on the 14th (Korean time). These groups protested against the decision of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA), which sanctioned Balieva and withdrew it, but CAS did not accept it.
CAS said, “In sports, fairness, prohibition of excessive measures, irreparable damage, and relative balance in interests were taken into consideration,” CAS said. We decided that it could cause irreparable damage to Yeva.” He continued, “It is inappropriate for the doping test results conducted in December of last year to be released only on the 8th of this month, which infringed on the athlete’s ability to defend himself legally. Not this,” he added.
With this, Baliyeva will be able to compete in the women’s single short program at the Beijing Winter Olympics starting on the 15th. She was born on April 26, 2006, and the 15-year-old Balieva has been recognized as the ‘best female figure skater of all time’. He freely uses quadruple (four mid-air) jumps that even male players cannot easily do. She has been evaluated for upgrading the skill level of female singles by several levels.
Balieva surprised the world by successfully jumping the quadruple toe loop at the International Skating Union (ISU) 2019-020 Junior Grand Prix debut stage at the age of 13. The quadruple toe loop is a technique that Junhwan Cha (Korea University) tried with his first jump in free skating in this competition, but fell without success.
Balieva continued her solo career without any competitor. Growing pains and slumps experienced by young figure skaters are another story for Balieva. In each competition she competed in, she broke world records, earning the nickname her ‘record maker’.
Balieva set a world record with a total score of 249.24 points at the ISU Challenger Series 2021 CS Finlandia Trophy, which was her senior debut stage in October last year. In just over 20 days, she broke her record in the second round of the ISU Grand Prix when she scored a total of 265.08. She even took her 272.71 points in the sixth round of the Grand Prix, raising the women’s singles all-time high of 270 points in just a few months, versus that of a top male player.
In this competition, Balieva already showed off her outstanding skills in the team event (team event). After making three quadruple jumps in her free skating alone, she took an overwhelming number one spot in both the women’s single short and free. Thanks to that, Russia won the gold medal in the figure skating team event (team event) for the first time ever.
However, Balieva and the Russian players have not yet made it to the team event medal podium. Doping allegations have been raised against Balieva. Balieva confirmed that in her doping sample she submitted ahead of the ISU European Championships last month, the banned drug trimetazidine, which is a treatment for angina and also has a stimulant effect, was found.
Regarded as the greatest figure skater ever, Baliyeva had a drug stigma at one point. Opposition voices that he should be banned from appearing in the Olympics grew louder.
However, despite allegations surrounding him, Baliyeva normally participated in official training. Despite the chaos caused by the overheated coverage of her training hours, Baliyeva has not yielded her will to compete in the Olympics.
Balieva will perform in the short program on the 15th as the 26th out of 30 competitors. He competes right in front of Korea’s swimming (18, Surigo).
The world’s attention is focused on how Balieva, who will compete in the Olympic individual event after a lot of hard work, will overcome the psychological burden.