On Feb. 6, Olympic figure skater Kamila Valieva perfectly executed a quadruple salchow, making history by doing so. At age 15, Valieva was the first woman in Olympic history to land a quad, securing the gold medal for the Russian Olympic Committee in the team figure skating event. 

Valieva has been a legend in the 2022 Winter Olympics and proved herself further by not only being the first women to perform a quad, but by doing so twice in her free skate performance. She opened the piece with a flawless quad, then later completed a quad toe-loop combined with a triple toe-loop. 

“I had this burden of responsibility,” Valieva said in an interview with the Washington Post, “But I came out a winner.”

Despite her impressive free skate, Valivera did show a flaw on Sunday when she fell out of an attempted third quad later in the performance. As she walked off the ice viewers could tell Valieva was dissatisfied with herself, though she had just made history. 

However, the ceremony that would award the ROC with the gold medal has been postponed due to reports of a drug banned by the World Anti-Doping agency in Valieva’s system. Trimetazidine is a drug used to treat chest pain by increasing blood flow and minimizing sudden changes in blood pressure. 

The ROC has declined to comment on the matter, but the effects of the drug are in question. Some have claimed that trimetazidine might not have any effect on an athlete’s performance. 

Dr. Sadiya Khan, a cardiologist at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine did an interview in which she discussed the potential effects of the drug. According to an article published by ESPN, Dr. Khan said “there’s a theoretical benefit” to the drug. But she continued, “There’s no strong evidence that it does make a difference.”

Some Russian publications have rushed to Valieva’s defense, but Russia’s history is far from clean in this area. In 2020 the country was banned from participating in the Olympics, Paralympics, or World Championships for four years (which has now been shortened to two) after the discovery of a state-funded doping program for athletes. Thus, Russian athletes currently compete for the Russian Olympic Committee, and the country is technically not receiving any medals from the 2022 Winter Olympics. 

Though the International Olympic Committee has also declined to respond to the specific reports of drug use, they have assured the public that they are working to quickly resolve the issue.