KAMILA VALIEVA will skate her spellbinding short programme at the Capital Indoor Arena in Beijing on Tuesday, amid a swirl of controversy over the decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to rule against re-imposing her provisional suspension for a doping offence.
The CAS cited “exceptional circumstances” and the fear of causing the 15-year-old “irreparable harm” for their decision to allow her to compete despite having tested positive for the banned heart medication trimetazidine following a test at the Russian National Championships on Christmas Day.
In a further extraordinary twist, the International Olympic Committee responded to the ruling by declaring that no medals will be awarded for the women’s event if, as expected, Valieva finishes in the top three, until such time as the full inquiry into the circumstances of her doping infraction has run its course.
The Khelif gender row shows no sign of being resolved to the satisfaction of anyone involved anytime soon, says boxing writer JOHN WIGHT



