The International Olympic Committee (IOC) responded on Wednesday (Feb. 17) after Sha’Carri Richardson accused the Olympics of hypocrisy over the handling of Russian skater Kamila Valieva.
As reported by REVOLT, Valieva was cleared by the Court of Arbitration for Sport this week to continue competing at the Beijing Winter Olympics despite failing a drug test in December, the results of which just recently came to light.
The 15-year-old skater tested positive for trimetazidine, a banned substance used to treat angina attacks that can improve athletes’ endurance. Valieva’s lawyers claimed the failed drug test was a result of a mix-up with her grandfather’s medication.
Richardson, on the other hand, received a one-month suspension from the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) last summer after testing positive for cannabis, which she said she used to cope with the death of her mother. Due to her suspension, she was not allowed to compete in the 100-meter dash at the Tokyo Olympics and missed out on the Olympic Games entirely after she was not selected for the women’s 4×100 relay.
“Can we get a solid answer on the difference of her situation and mines?” she tweeted on Monday (Feb. 14) after it was reported that Valieva would be allowed to compete. “My mother died and I can’t run and was also favored to place top 3. The only difference I see is I’m a black young lady.”
On Wednesday, IOC spokesperson Mark Adams refuted Richardson’s claims about there being a double standard.
“Every single case is very different,” Adams said at a press conference, per Sky Sports. “[Richardson] tested positive on June 19 [2021], quite a way ahead of the Tokyo Games.”
“Her results came in early order for USADA to deal with the case on time, before the games. Ms. Richardson accepted a one-month period of ineligibility which began on June 28,” he continued. “I would suggest that there isn’t a great deal of similarity between the two cases.”
Adams added that the Court of Arbitration for Sport only ruled on Valieva’s eligibility to compete in Beijing and that she may still be banned from other competitions in the coming weeks. The IOC previously announced that the skater won’t be able to collect any medals she wins until her case is closed.
“There will be an asterisk about the results on Friday (Feb. 18) because they will be preliminary,” Adams said. “This case has not yet concluded and the CAS have made that very clear. In fact as far as I know, the B sample hasn’t even been opened, so I think drawing conclusions like this at this stage is really inappropriate.”
Richardson seemingly responded to the IOC’s statement in the tweet below: