Ice and Politics: The Troubled International Return of Kamila Valieva

Yet behind the facade of "depoliticising sport" lies a profound, systemic absurdity. Nowhere is this controversy more glaring than in the figure of 20-year-old Kamila Valieva— Russia’s star skater, whose name became synonymous with the biggest doping scandal of the 2022 Winter Games, and whose subsequent career has turned her into one of the Kremlin's most visible propaganda tools.

While the ISU has posted no official announcement regarding the return of Russian athletes on its homepage, Valieva’s profile on the governing body’s portal now quietly reflects her updated status: Individual Neutral Athlete (AIN2).

The Beijing Doping Scandal and Four Years of Outstanding Debts to Sport

At the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, the then 15-year-old Valieva was a sensation. She made history as the first woman to land a quadruple jump at the Olympic Games, driving the Russian Olympic Committee team to gold in the team event.

The triumph was fleeting. The very next day, news broke that a sample collected from Valieva at the Russian Figure Skating Championships in December 2021 had tested positive for trimetazidine—a banned angina medication known to enhance physical endurance.

Valieva’s defence team mounted an array of far-fetched explanations, including the claim that the substance had accidentally entered her system via a strawberry dessert prepared by her grandfather. The legal saga dragged on for months before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) Panel finally delivered its verdict on 29 January: a four-year ban. CAS retroactively disqualified all of Valieva's results dating back to December 2021, stripping the Russian team of their Beijing gold.

With her suspension running through to late December 2025, Valieva was barred from participating in qualifying events, forcing her to miss the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy.

Having served her four-year ban, Valieva announced her intention to return to elite competition in early 2026. The scandal had previously cast a harsh spotlight on her coach, Eteri Tutberidze, long criticised for treating underage skaters as disposable assets in the pursuit of gold at any cost. Yet, as the Milan Games demonstrated, Tutberidze remains comfortably entrenched in the sport; although she attended the 2026 Games as a coach for Georgian and Russian athletes.

Richaud’s French Connection and Threats from the State Duma

Kamila Valieva’s bid to revive her career post-suspension has brought a shift in her sporting entourage. She parted ways with Tutberidze’s group to join the team of Tatiana Navka—an Olympic and world champion, and the wife of Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov. Peskov is an ardent supporter of the war against Ukraine, infamous for his anti-European and anti-Western rhetoric. Navka herself has been under personal sanctions imposed by the US, the UK, Japan, and the European Union since 2022.

Meanwhile, in a bid to regain favour with international judges and secure modern choreography,  Kamila Valieva travelled to France a week before the ISU’s neutral status decision to attend an intensive training camp with renowned French choreographer Benoît Richaud.

Richaud is the same French choreographer who devised programmes for 16 athletes across 13 countries at the 2026 Winter Olympics, famously swapping national team jackets between performances in  the Kiss and Cry zone.

Valieva has already posted photos from these sessions, posing alongside Kazakhstan’s 2026 Olympic champion, Mikhail Shaidorov.

Valieva’s venture to France caught the immediate attention of the Russian political establishment. While Russia’s sports apparatus is eager to showcase its athletes on the global stage, it remains deeply hostile to any unapproved engagement with the West.

Svetlana Zhurova, a Russia State Duma MP and former Olympic champion—who only a month earlier had praised the "legend of Russian ice"—issued a blunt warning to the skater:  "If there is a benefit to it, then such a trip is a plus. But if there are no results, Valieva will be held fully accountable for training in France."

Zhurova’s comments—delivered through the lens of a politician rather than a former athlete—offer a telling insight into the Kremlin's view of sportspeople: they are treated primarily as soldiers on the "sporting front". Any reliance on foreign expertise is viewed with suspicion, and failure to secure gold medals invites public vilification for a lack of patriotism and the misuse of foreign resources.

'Neutrality' on Paper: Youth Propaganda and Proximity to Putin

The greatest farce of the ISU’s decision to grant Valieva and her peers neutral status is its disregard for their direct involvement in the political mechanisms of the aggressor state.

Throughout her four-year bans, Valieva remained a prominent public figure, emerging as a primary face of Kremlin propaganda directed at Russian youth and an outspoken cheerleader for Vladimir Putin.

Putin was among the first to defend Valieva publicly after the Beijing doping scandal broke, claiming that an athlete of her calibre could not have won dishonestly. "Such perfection cannot be achieved dishonestly, with the help of some additional means, manipulations... we understand and know this very well," he said.

Valieva subsequently thanked Putin on multiple occasions for his personal backing and his support for Russian youth.

Her political integration has been explicit:

• At the opening of the state-sponsored "Games of the Future" in Kazan in February 2024, Valieva was seated in the VIP box right next to Putin in a clear display of loyalty.
• She was among the select guests invited to attend Putin’s presidential inauguration in May 2024.
• She starred in major ice shows produced by Tatiana Navka, projects backed by state funding and designed to reinforce official Kremlin narratives.
• She has been a fixture at state-run events, patriotic festivals, and youth forums aimed at normalizing Russia's war against Ukraine.