Russian star practices despite report of positive drug test

“Let’s, for the sake of understanding, wait for some explanations either from our sports officials or from the IOC,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

While the Russian team dominated the competition, Valieva was the star. Along with winning the short program and free skate, she became the first woman to land a quadruple jump in Olympic competition.

Many of the skaters that took part in the team competition, including American star Nathan Chen and Russian’s Mark Kondratiuk, are due to leave Beijing shortly after competing Thursday. They would miss any medal ceremony held later.

“Everyone is doing absolutely everything that the situation can be resolved as soon as possible,” Adams said, though he cautioned “as you know, legal issues can sometimes drag on.”

Traditional doping is uncommon in figure skating because additional muscle mass is generally a negative. But many skaters have been caught over the years trying to control their weight with diuretics, which are banned for their ability to mask steroid use, and other medications that could give them the slightest edge.

Russian skaters in particular have a history of positive results dating to 2000, when decorated pairs skater Elena Berezhnaya was stripped of a gold medal from the European championships for testing positive for pseudoephedrine.