US Olympic boss questions doping probe into Kamila Valieva after Vladimir Putin publicly defended the teenage skater

• The head of he USOPC is worried about the ongoing doping investigation into Kamila Valieva.
• Sarah Hirshland's concerns come after Vladimir Putin insisted the teenage skater's innocence.

Sarah Hirshland, CEO of the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USPOC), has questioned the integrity of the ongoing doping investigation into Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva after Vladimir Putin publicly insisted she had not cheated.

Teenager Valieva found herself at the heart of a doping scandal at the Beijing Winter Olympics in February when it was revealed that she had tested positive for a banned substance in December.

The revelation came to light just shortly after the youngster had helped the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) win gold in the team event.

All medals from the team event, in which the USA finished second, were subsequently withheld pending an investigation into Valieva's positive test by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

The investigation remains open three months on and last month, Russia President Putin publicly expressed his support for Valieva, saying it would have been "impossible" for the skater "to achieve that kind of perfection dishonestly."

Amid Putin's comments, Hirshland fears the investigation, which is being handled in-part by Russia's anti-doping agency, RUSADA, might not be conducted properly.

"Russia needs to be sanctioned," she told reporters in Washington Monday, according to the Washington Post. "What that is and looks like is a conversation that every sport organization continues to have.

"You see news reports of Putin defending Valieva, and you question: 'If he's defending Valieva before the process has played itself out, how can you consider there to be integrity around the process?'"

Hirshland also hit out at WADA for the slowness of its probe and for not yet handing out the medals from the team event, in which the US would be retrospectively awarded gold should Russia be formally disqualified.

"Unfortunately the moment is lost," she said. "I don't think you ever get that moment back. So now our job is to do our best to create another moment."

Following the saga surrounding Valieva in Beijing, the International Skating Union (ISU) has now proposed raising the minimum age for senior figure skating competitions from 15 to 17.

Valieva, 15 at the time, was allowed to continue competing in Beijing despite the revelation of her positive test, however crumbled amid the mounting scrutiny surrounding her.

In free-skate final of the women's individual event, the Russian made number of errors to fall out of the medals before breaking down in tears on the ice.

Directly after the event, Valieva's coach, Eteri Tutberidze, could then be seen and heard heavily criticizing her performance, prompting backlash from International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach.

Under proposals listed in the agenda for the ISU's 58th congress in Thailand next month, the organization's medical commission said the proposed change is to protect child athletes such as Valieva.

"It is conceivable that allowing underage athletes to compete may subject them to loads and risks that are thought to be inappropriate for their age," it said.

"Not only physically, but in terms of the psychological and social development of the child."