In its report, the court panel said it had decided that Valieva could continue skating at the Olympics because she was not to blame for the delay in providing a conclusive result by the Stockholm laboratory that analyzed her sample. That result came after Valieva had already skated in Beijing. The panel’s commentary was scathing regarding the 44 days it had taken for the Stockholm laboratory to provide the results, noting that Valieva had tested negative twice since then — on Jan. 13 and Feb. 7 — with those results having arrived in a more timely manner. The Swedish laboratory blamed the delays on staffing shortages related to the coronavirus pandemic. The court panel, the report said, was provided with no proof of purchase, medical records or prescriptions.

Source: New York Times February 18, 2022 10:25 UTC