Head of US anti-doping agency says Kamila Valieva case appears to be 'pretty deliberate' use of performance-enhancing drugs

• USADA's CEO said Kamila Valieva's case appears to be a "pretty deliberate attempt" to use performance-enhancing drugs.
• Travis Tygart told CNN that the presence of additional substances in Valieva's drug test call into question the 15-year-old's drug use.

The CEO of the United States Anti-Doping Agency said that the case of Kamila Valieva — the 15-year-old Russian Olympic Committee figure skater at the center of a doping scandal at the Beijing Winter Olympics — appears to be a "pretty deliberate attempt" to use performance-enhancing drugs.

"It raises a whole host of questions that have yet to be determined and what appears to be the case of a pretty deliberate attempt to use substances in order to enhance performance," USADA CEO Travis Tygart told CNN.

Valieva tested positive for three medications used to treat heart conditions in a drug test taken in December.

Only one of the medications — trimetazidine — is banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency. The other two substances found in Valieva's testing sample were hypoxen and the supplement L-Carnatine.

Tygart told CNN that the presence of those additional substances calls into question Valieva's drug use.

"The picture it paints is, you've got a 15-year-old. Does she have the wherewithal and the knowledge and the financial resources to find and use two drugs, one of which is prohibited TMZ [trimetazidine] and another one hypoxen, [along with] L-carnitine — to increase endurance and reduce fatigue?," he told CNN.

Tygart also said that hypoxen, a drug to help improve oxygen flow to the heart, was a substance that the USADA tried to ban in 2017 due to its performance-enhancing potential.

He told The Associated Press that mixing the additional substances with the 2.1 nanograms of trimetazidine found in Valieva's system is "an indication that something more serious is going on."

"You use all of that to increase performance," Tygart said, adding: "It totally undermines the credibility" of Valieva's defense.

Valieva was initially hit with a provisional suspension from Russia's anti-doping agency (RUSADA) after the positive test was revealed.

But the ban was overturned on February 9 following a swift appeal.

That decision was challenged by the International Olympic Committee and the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled Monday that Valieva could continue compete in the Olympic Games.