https://www.bbc.com-Kamila Valieva can compete again at the Winter Olympics after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) decided that no provisional suspension should be imposed on the 15-year-old after she failed a drugs test.
Cas said preventing the Russian figure skater from competing would have caused her “irreparable harm”.
“The athlete should benefit from the following exceptional circumstances, she is under 16 and a protected person under the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) code,” said Cas’ Matthieu Reeb.
Valieva, who returned a positive test on 25 December last year, had been provisionally suspended on 8 February but challenged the decision and the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (Rusada) lifted the ban the next day.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) and others launched an appeal that Cas has now turned down.
She is now free to compete on Tuesday in the women’s individual figure skating competition, where she is favourite for gold.
While her immediate Olympic future has been resolved, this case that has overshadowed the Games and provoked outrage at how a child became embroiled in a case of suspected doping is far from over.
Wada has already said it will be investigating the teenager’s entourage, including coaches, doctors and other adults surrounding her, while the actual matter of the failed test is yet to be resolved.
She could still be stripped of the gold medal she helped the Russian Olympic Committee win in last week’s team event and the same would go for any medal won in the individual competition.
The IOC had earlier said it would follow the Cas decision “whether we like it nor not”.
Meanwhile the US Olympic Committee said it was “disappointed by the message that this decision sends”.