After monobob gold, USA's Kaillie Humphries pushes for equality across all bobsled events

Day 10 of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics

By Aditi Sangal, Ben Morse, Helen Regan, Adam Renton and Patrick Sung, CNN

Updated 7:59 p.m. ET, February 14, 2022
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2:58 a.m. ET, February 14, 2022

After monobob gold, USA's Kaillie Humphries pushes for equality across all bobsled events

Kaillie Humphries celebrates during the women's monobob bobsleigh event on Monday.
Kaillie Humphries celebrates during the women's monobob bobsleigh event on Monday. (Julian Finney/Getty Images)

Team USA's Kaillie Humphries reflected on "the highs and lows" of her career after winning the first ever gold in the monobob event at the Winter Olympics on Monday.

It was her third career Olympic gold medal and fourth Olympic medal overall. Humphries’ previous three Olympic medals came as she competed in two-woman bobsled for Canada.

"It has been a journey to get here and it hasn’t always been guaranteed. It hasn’t always been easy. I have had a lot of fears and doubts. I have had highs and lows," Humphries said at the National Sliding Center.
“To know that I still got it is a pretty cool feeling and it’s so heart-warming to be able to bring back a gold medal for a country that has really stood behind me for the last four years.”

On the future of women’s bobsleigh, Humphries said she'd love to see equality across all three bobsled events. The monobob made its Olympic debut in Beijing after a long, hard-fought campaign to get the sport included.

It joins the pre-existing traditional bobsled events: four-man, two-man, and two-woman — and gives women two medal opportunities, bringing them even with men.

“What I would love to see, not only for women’s bobsled but bobsled in general, is that eventually women get four-man and that men can do monobob. Three events for all athletes, regardless of gender, would really push the needle and move the sport forward," she said.
“It would allow for more small nations within men’s bobsled, more participation for women if we can get women’s four-man going, and just greater opportunity for more athletes worldwide.”
2:13 a.m. ET, February 14, 2022

Here's the timeline of Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva's failed drug test

The doping scandal surrounding Kamila Valieva, the 15-year-old Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) figure skater, has rocked the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.

She was allowed to compete despite testing positive for the banned heart drug Trimetazidine, which is commonly used to treat people with angina. The failed test only came to light during the Winter Olympics, and it remains unclear if the controversy will see the gold medal revoked.

Here's a timeline of the events:

Dec. 25, 2021: A drug sample is taken from Valieva at the Russian Figure Skating Championships in St. Petersburg.

Jan. 15, 2021: Valieva wins the 2022 European Championships in Tallinn, Estonia.

Feb. 1, 2022: Valieva arrives in Beijing for the Winter Olympics.

Feb. 7, 2022: Valieva helps the ROC win gold in the figure skating team event at Beijing 2022, landing the first ever quadruple jump by a woman in Olympic competition.

Feb. 7, 2022: A lab accredited by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in Stockholm, Sweden, confirms an adverse analytical finding in Valieva's sample, WADA said.

Some background: The Russian Anti-Doping Agency's (RUSADA) laboratory is currently suspended by WADA. Hence, testing is outsourced and carried out by WADA-accredited laboratories. In this instance, testing was designated to the Stockholm laboratory.

Feb. 8, 2022: Valieva is notified and provisionally suspended by RUSADA.

Feb. 8, 2022: The medal ceremony for the figure skating team event is postponed. Later, reports emerge of a failed drugs test by a member of the ROC team.

Feb. 9, 2022: Valieva challenges provisional suspension; RUSADA's Disciplinary Anti-Doping Committee lifts the suspension.

Feb. 10, 2022 : Valieva trains as normal at the Capital Indoor Stadium in Beijing.

Feb. 11, 2022: The International Testing Agency (ITA) confirms Valieva failed a test for a banned substance in December, adding it will appeal RUSADA's decision to lift the suspension at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on behalf of the IOC. WADA and the International Skating Union (ISU) also said they will appeal.

Feb. 13, 2022: CAS conducts a hearing into the case. WADA says it will investigate Valieva's entourage — as a minor, Valieva is not the only person of interest in the case.

Feb. 14, 2022: CAS rules Valieva can continue competing at the Olympics. A decision on the team gold medals will be made during "other proceedings," CAS said.

2:06 a.m. ET, February 14, 2022

US figure skater Madison Hubbell: "Huge disappointment" not to get team medals

Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue celebrate during the ice dance figure skating event on Monday.
Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue celebrate during the ice dance figure skating event on Monday. (Wang Zhao/AFP/Getty Images)

American skater Madison Hubbell said the possibility that Team USA won’t be awarded the figure skating team event medals before the Beijing Games end would be a "huge disappointment."

Hubbell is yet to receive her team event silver as the scandal over Russian skater Kamila Valieva's failed drug test continues to delay the awarding of medals for the event in which the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) won gold.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport on Monday ruled Valieva could compete but didn't examine whether there was merit in her failed drug test, or on whether the ROC should lose the gold.

"We’ve been focusing on this individual event, knowing that this decision was up in the air. I believe there is no done deal yet. I know that all of the people in the team event, our main hope was that we would receive the medals here all together as a team," Hubbell said in a news conference after winning bronze in the ice dance Monday.
"So if that really is the case, then we miss that opportunity, I think it’s a huge disappointment. It’s something we accomplished together, and it’s not the same at all to have that experience taken away. So my heart goes out to the rest of my teammates, and hope we’ll find something to celebrate together."

International Olympic Committee spokesperson Mark Adams said Monday it is likely the medals in the team event won't be sorted out during the Games.

3:01 a.m. ET, February 14, 2022

Canada through to women's ice hockey finals

Team Canada celebrate after their 10-3 win against Switzerland in the women's ice hockey semifinals on Monday.
Team Canada celebrate after their 10-3 win against Switzerland in the women's ice hockey semifinals on Monday. (Harry How/Getty Images)

Team Canada advances to the women's ice hockey gold medal game after a 10-3 semifinal win against Switzerland on Monday.

Canada will now await the outcome of the US-Finland match to see whether they will face off against arch rivals the United States in the final.

The perennial hockey powerhouses were widely tipped to contend for the championship in Beijing. The Canadians are bent on reclaiming the gold after the US ended their run of four straight Olympic titles in 2018. 

Switzerland will play in the bronze medal game against the losers of the US-Finland match, which kicks off at 9:10 p.m. local time (8:10 a.m. ET).

1:52 a.m. ET, February 14, 2022

US Olympic & Paralympic Committee "disappointed" by Kamila Valieva case

United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee CEO Sarah Hirshland speaks during a press conference at the 2022 Winter Olympics on Feb. 4.
United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee CEO Sarah Hirshland speaks during a press conference at the 2022 Winter Olympics on Feb. 4. (Mark Schiefelbein/AP)

The United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee said the Kamila Valieva case "appears to be another chapter in the systemic and pervasive disregard for clean sport by Russia."

“We are disappointed by the message this decision sends. It is the collective responsibility of the entire Olympic community to protect the integrity of sport and to hold our athletes, coaches and all involved to the highest of standards. Athletes have the right to know they are competing on a level playing field. Unfortunately, today that right is being denied," said USOPC CEO Sarah Hirshland.
“We know this case is not yet closed, and we call on everyone in the Olympic Movement to continue to fight for clean sport on behalf of athletes around the world.”
1:42 a.m. ET, February 14, 2022

Athletes' group urges "immediate reform" to anti-doping systems following Kamila Valieva ruling

Global Athlete, an athlete-led group working for change across the sporting world, said the ruling to allow Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva to compete in Beijing is "another example of the failures of the global sport and antidoping system."

The group said the fact that Valieva — a 15-year-old — tested positive for a banned substance is "evidence of abuse of a minor."

"Sport should be protecting its athletes, not damaging them," it said in a statement.

"Doping and the trauma of a positive test pose grave physical and psychological risks to all athletes but especially to minors. It is unacceptable that these risks have been placed on a fifteen-year-old," Global Athlete said.

"The volume of abuses athletes have endured over the decades can undeniably be attributed to the power imbalance that sport leaders, administrators, and coaches have over athletes."

The group said athletes need professional representation and "the ability to collectively bargain."

"It is blatantly clear that Valieva would have never been placed in this position if the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), International Olympic Committee (IOC), and the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) had done their jobs and banned Russia from global sport," the group said.
"The doping of Kamila Valieva must be a wake-up call for every fan, parent, and athlete to stand together to demand reform. The doping of minor athletes must be stopped."
1:45 a.m. ET, February 14, 2022

US anti-doping agency chief says Russia has "hijacked" Olympics

From CNN's Lizzy Yee

File photo of US Anti-Doping Agency Chief Executive Officer Travis Tygart, from a senate hearing on Feb. 5, 2020.
File photo of US Anti-Doping Agency Chief Executive Officer Travis Tygart, from a senate hearing on Feb. 5, 2020. (Susan Walsh/AP)

Russia has "hijacked" the Olympic Games and "stolen the moment from clean athletes and the public," the head of the United States Anti-Doping Agency said Monday.

The comments from USADA CEO Travis T. Tygart came after the Court of Arbitration of Sport cleared Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva to compete in Beijing, despite a failed drugs test taken in December.

“Let’s all hope the decision to allow her to compete with a pending positive is the right one," Tygart said. Only time will tell if she should be competing in these Games and whether or not all of her results will be disqualified."

If the ongoing investigation determines Valieva should not have been allowed to compete and her results are disqualified, then, he said, "today’s decision will have once again permitted the Russians to taint the Olympic Games.

It would "reveal what a farce the handling of the Russia state-sponsored doping system by the IOC has been over the last eight years has been," Tygart said.

The CAS decision only ruled on whether Valieva could continue competing, not whether the drug test was valid or on if the ROC's team gold — which Valieva helped win — should be overturned.

"If Russia would have properly processed this sample which they collected weeks prior to the Olympic Games, we would know for certain whether the women’s individual event starting tomorrow will be a real competition and whether she should have been allowed to skate in the figure skating team event," Tygart said.
"In addition to athletes and the public, this young athlete has been terribly let down by the Russians and the global anti-doping system that unfairly cast her into this chaos."

Tygart called for reform of the global system "to ensure these types of failures do not occur and to protect all athletes by ensuring that all competitions are fair and in accordance with the rules of the game."

1:25 a.m. ET, February 14, 2022

Here's why the Court of Arbitration for Sport cleared Kamila Valieva to compete

Court of Arbitration for Sport director general Matthieu Reeb at a news conference at the Beijing Winter Olympics Media Center on Monday.
Court of Arbitration for Sport director general Matthieu Reeb at a news conference at the Beijing Winter Olympics Media Center on Monday. (Sebastien Bozon/AFP/Getty Images)

Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva has been cleared to compete in the Beijing Winter Olympics, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled Monday.

"On the basis of the very limited facts of this case, and after consideration of the relevant legal issues, it has determined that no provisional suspension should be imposed on the athlete," the CAS said in a statement.

The ruling comes after the International Olympic Committee (IOC), International Skating Union (ISU) and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) appealed the Russian Anti-Doping Agency’s (RUSADA) decision to lift a provisional suspension on the teen figure skater after she failed a drugs test taken in December.

The CAS said it made the decision to allow the 15-year-old to compete due to "exceptional circumstances." They are:

  • Because Valieva is a minor, she is considered a “protected person” under the World Anti-Doping Code.
  • These rules have "specific provisions for different standards of evidence and for lower sanctions in the case of protected persons."
  • The CAS notes Valieva did not test positive during the Winter Olympics. In making the decision the panel considered "fundamental principles of fairness, proportionality, irreparable harm."
It concluded "that preventing the athlete from competing at the Olympic Games would cause her irreparable harm in these circumstances."
  • The CAS said there were "serious issues of untimely notification" of the drug test results. The test was taken in December but results were only made clear on Feb. 8.
The CAS said this "impinged upon the athlete’s ability to establish certain legal requirements for her benefit, while such late notification was not her fault, in the middle of the Olympic Winter Games."

CAS conclusion: The panel determined that permitting the provisional suspension to remain lifted was appropriate.

The CAS only ruled on Valieva's eligibility to compete, and did not examine "the legal consequences relating to the results of the team event in figure skating" — in which Valieva helped the ROC to win gold. Those issues "will be examined in other proceedings," the CAS said.

1:07 a.m. ET, February 14, 2022

Kamila Valieva has been cleared to compete in the Beijing Olympics. Here's how the saga unfolded

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled Monday that 15-year-old Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva can continue competing in the Beijing Winter Olympics.

It means she will be able to take part in the women's single skating short program on Tuesday, which she is favorite to win.

Last week, Valieva became the first woman to land a quadruple jump at the Olympics and helped the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) win gold at the team event.

Here's what happened:

  • Valieva tested positive for the banned heart drug Trimetazidine in late December before the Games, according to the International Testing Agency (ITA). 
  • The failed results were only announced on Feb. 8 — one day after the ROC's victory in the team event. 
  • She was immediately given a provisional suspension by the Russian Anti-Doping Agency — but she challenged decision and the ban was lifted a day later, clearing her to continue competing.
  • The ITA, the International Olympic Committee, the World Anti-Doping Agency and the International Skating Union then appealed the decision to lift her suspension.
  • Valieva was free to train as the deliberations continued.
  • The scandal continues to delay the awarding of medals to all three teams, including silver for Team USA and bronze for Team Japan. It remains unclear if the drug test controversy will see the team gold medal revoked.
  • Responding to the controversy, the ROC said Valieva had "repeatedly passed doping tests" while already in Beijing, adding that it is taking measures to keep her "honestly won" gold.