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The president of the Russian Olympic committee said Thursday that the country would fight any effort to redistribute medals in the team figure skating competition, even if the star skater Kamila Valieva is eventually disqualified for doping.
Russia won the gold in the team event, in part because of Valieva’s stunning performances. But its Olympic committee soon revealed that Valieva had tested positive for a banned drug in December, setting off a legal dispute that has overshadowed the figure skating competition at the Beijing Games.
A panel of arbitrators ruled on Monday that Valieva, 15, could continue competing, but an investigation could eventually lead to her disqualification.
The Russian Olympic committee’s president, Stanislav Pozdnyakov, said Thursday that his organization had sent a letter to skating’s global governing body arguing that “the results of the team competition are not subject to revision under any circumstances, regardless of the outcome of the disciplinary investigation against the athlete.”
Pozdnyakov said his statement was a direct response to remarks by an International Olympic Committee official this week that the results of the team event and the women’s singles competition, which took place Thursday, were considered “preliminary.”
The I.O.C. had said it would not award medals in either event until Valieva’s doping case is resolved, a process that could take months. But Valieva, considered a heavy gold medal favorite, finished fourth after a poor performance in the free skate. Valieva burst into tears even before seeing her scores; her teammate Anna Shcherbakova won the gold and a third Russian, Alexandra Trusova, took the silver.
Still, Russia pledged to fight any effort to take away medals from its other skaters.
Global antidoping rules, Pozdnyakov said, allow a review of the results of a team event only if a doping violation occurred during the Olympic Games.
“We will defend this position consistently in any possible proceedings,” he said.
