What happens to Olympic medals now that Russian skater Valieva has been sanctioned for doping?
The IndependentFor free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy The highest court in sports sanctioned Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva for doping violations at the 2022 Beijing Olympics. Even IOC president Thomas Bach weighed in, saying her entourage showed "a tremendous coldness, it was chilling to see this.” Russia invaded Ukraine less than a week after the Olympics ended, and figure skating's international federation has since banned Russian skaters from its events. RUSSIA AND THE OLYMPICS Technically, Valieva's case was not part of the doping scandal that has prevented Russia from competing under its own flag at the Olympics since 2016. In 2022, Valieva was technically competing as a member of the “ROC” — short for Russian Olympic Committee, not for Russia itself — because of sanctions stemming from the state- But what the Valieva case exposed was the fact that, even 10 years after Sochi, things are still not back to "normal” in Russia.