Figure skating champions Johnny Weir and Tara Lipinski comment for NBC the Figure Skating Men's Free Skating on day seven of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics at Iceberg Skating Palace on February 14, 2014 in Sochi, Russia.
Figure skating champions Johnny Weir and Tara Lipinski comment for NBC the Figure Skating Men's Free Skating on day seven of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics at Iceberg Skating Palace on February 14, 2014 in Sochi, Russia.John Berry/Getty Images
  • Tara Lipinski and Johnny Weir condemned the decision to allow Kamila Valieva to compete in the Beijing Olympics. 
  • Valieva tested positive for banned drug trimetazidine, prompting an immediate suspension.
  • The CAS reversed the decision Monday, and Valieva will compete in the singles event Tuesday. 

Former Olympic figure skaters Tara Lipinski and Johnny Weir condemned the decision to allow Russian Olympic Committee figure skater Kamila Valieva to continue competing in the Beijing Olympics after testing positive for a banned drug.

"I strongly disagree with this decision," Lipinski told NBC's Mike Tirico. "Clean sport is the only thing that matters at an Olympic games." 

Weir told Tirico that he has to "condemn this decision with every ounce of my soul." 

Valieva, the 15-year-old skater who made history as the first woman to land a quad jump at the Olympics, tested positive for banned drug trimetazidine in a December drug test. 

When the failed drug test came to light during the Olympics last week, Valieva was immediately suspended from the games.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), however, reversed the decision Monday and said Valieva will be able compete in the singles figure skating event Tuesday. 

Lipinski and Weir condemned the decision by the CAS, saying it was a "slap in the face."

"What we love about an Olympic games is that we get to marvel at humans pushing athletic limits and doing the impossible but with one caveat — to do it fairly and cleanly," Lipinski told Tirico.

Weir said that the Olympics "has to be clean."

"If you won't play fair then you can't play," he said. "This is a slap in the face to the Olympic Games, to our sport, and to every athlete that's ever competed at the Olympics clean."

 

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