Kamila Valieva, a Russian figure skater, was given a four-year ban after she failed a doping test before the 2022 Winter Olympics when she was 15 years old.
Valieva tested positive for the banned heart medication trimetazidine in December 2021.
The sample had been collected on 25 December at the Russian Figure Skating Championships in St Petersburg.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) has upheld an appeal by the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada).
“The doping of children is unforgivable,” Wada said in response.
“Doctors, coaches, or other support personnel who are found to have provided performance-enhancing substances to minors should face the full force of the World Anti-Doping Code. Indeed, Wada encourages governments to consider passing legislation – as some have done already – making the doping of minors a criminal offense.”
The news came after Valieva had helped Russia to win the gold medal.
She was the first female skater to land a quadruple jump at the Winter Olympics.
The ban has been backdated to 25 December 2021 – the date Valieva took the failed test – and the Cas panel has also ordered “the disqualification of all competitive results achieved” from that date.
“Ms Valieva was not able to establish, on the balance of probabilities and based on the evidence before the panel, that she had not committed the Anti-Doping Rule Violation (ADRV) intentionally,” it said in its ruling.
It added it had no bearing on “whether the athlete is an adult or a Protected Person” referring to Valieva’s age at the time of the failed test.
