Is Arbitration for Olympic Athletes Arbitrary?

In December of 2021, Professional Russian Figure Skater Kamila Valieva completed a doping control test during a Russian National Figure Skating Championship. On February 7, 2022, a World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) accredited laboratory detected the presence of a banned substance from Kamila’s December 2021 test. The Russian Anti-Doping Agency, (RUSADA) which is in charge of the application of WADA, first implemented a provisional suspension on Kamila, prohibiting her from competing in the 2022 Olympic Winter Games. The RUSADA’s Disciplinary Anti-Doping Committee (DADC) then moved to lift this provisional suspension. The International Olympic committee, the WADA and the International Skating Union appealed this decision to lift the provisional suspension. Because this appeal was brought during the period of the 2022 Olympic Winter Games, the Court of Arbitration for Sports’ Ad Hoc Division obtained jurisdiction of the case. Ultimately the Ad Hoc Division decided that the lifted suspension would remain in place and Kamila would compete in the women’s Single Skating event during the Winter Games on Feb 15, 2022