Another doping scandal in figure skating has surfaced ahead of the 2022 Beijing Olympics. On Tuesday, the International Testing Agency said that Spanish figure skater Laura Barquero had tested positive for the banned steroid clostebol, making her the fourth athlete at the Beijing Olympics to fail a doping test.
On Saturday, Barquero and her partner Marco Zandron finished 11th in the pairs competition. Per NY Post, the ITA said her positive sample was supplied after the short program on Friday and the Court of Arbitration for Sport will hear the case.
Kamila Valieva, a fifteen-year-old Russian figure skater, made headlines at the Olympics after a sample she submitted before the Games tested positive for a prohibited drug. Valieva was able to continue skating in Beijing in part because of her age, which offers her additional anti-doping rights. She can still lose the gold medal she won in the team event if the lab findings aren’t revealed.
Valieva fell several times during the individual event’s free skate portion, going from gold-medal favorite to missing out on a medal altogether. In a statement, the Spanish Olympic Committee claimed it had received word of the unusual discovery of a “Spanish athlete,” but did not name the skater.
Athletes involved in a doping scandal in 2022 Beijing Olympics
After testing positive for doping, the 20-year-old figure skater became the fifth athlete to fail a doping test at the Beijing Olympics. Kamila Valieva, a 15-year-old Russian figure skater, was the high-profile doping case of this Olympic season.
Valieva was permitted to continue skating in Beijing in part because of her advanced age, which grants her additional anti-doping privileges. She might still lose the gold medal she won in the team even if the lab results aren’t released.
Other athletes who tested positive in Beijing were Hossein Saveh Shemshaki, an Iranian Alpine skier, and two Ukrainians, Valentyna Kaminska, a cross-country skier, and Lidiia Hunko, a bobsledder. Substances including mesterolone and heptaminol were discovered in their bodies. They have been temporarily barred from all contests pending the outcome of their doping case, MEAWW reported.
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