RUSADA refused to tell the results of Kamila Valieva’s doping investigation.

Valieva, a 16-year-old Russian figure skater, is the reigning World Junior champion and was due to compete at the 2022 World Championships.

USADA CEO Travis Tygart said in a statement that RUSADA’s decision not to release the results of Valieva’s investigation was “extremely disappointing”. “It is vital that RUSADA live up to its commitment to transparency and publicly release the results of this case,” Tygart said.

RUSADA director general Yuri Ganus defended his agency’s decision, saying that they had a “duty of confidentiality” to protect the rights of athletes.

This is not the first time RUSADA has been criticised for its handling of doping cases. In December 2019, RUSADA was heavily criticised for its decision to clear Russian runner Dmitry Shlyakhtin of doping charges.

RUSADA has now confirmed that the investigation into Valieva’s positive test is complete, but it has refused to release the results publicly. ROC president Stanislav Pozdnyakov has called on RUSADA to make the results of the investigation public, but so far the anti-doping agency has refused to do so.

Valieva’s case is just the latest in a long line of doping scandals that have hit Russian sport in recent years. The country was banned from international competition for four years by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) back in December 2020 after an investigation into widespread doping among Russian athletes.

While many Russian athletes have been able to compete as neutrals during the ban, the country is still not allowed to compete under its own flag at major international events.