Russian doping controversy ignites at Beijing Games, White bows out

BEIJING, Feb 11 (AFP): Russian teenage figure skater Kamila Valieva tested positive for a banned substance, Beijing Olympics testers confirmed Friday, while American snowboarding legend Shaun White finished an agonising fourth in his final appearance.
After concerns about Covid, human rights and man-made snow in the build-up to the Olympics in the Chinese capital, doping became the latest controversy to rock the Games.
Reports of doping had swirled around the prodigious 15-year-old Valieva after the medals ceremony for the figure skating team event -- in which she played a starring role to lead Russia to gold -- was delayed this week.
On Friday, soon after she was seen practising on the ice in Beijing, the International Testing Agency (ITA) confirmed traces of the banned substance trimetazidine were found in a sample she gave in December.
Valieva now faces a fight to stay at the Games and take part in the women's individual event, which starts on February 15 and for which she is the favourite.