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ROSSETT I ZANDER1 Medicine’s short ¬— not a good
time for hajj (10)
6 Tribal group determined to seize
power (4)
8 Organisational reason to take one’s
temperature (8)
9 Squadron, say, drops one veteran
without number (6)
10 Second person no longer still
ignores Grand Hotel (4)
11 Pay corps to recruit a foreign judge
(10)
12 Fool bishop with pre-noon tipple,
swigging litres (9)
14 South Island’s diving aid (5)
17 Celebrate former superior officer
(5)
19 Like good guy arresting city
mugger (9)
22 Spoil bouncer, one in his 70s? (4,6)
23 Keen lapwing drops it, heading
west (4)
24 Second fee securing Republican’s
easy victory (6)
25 Ignorant individual blocks new
reduced trail (8)
26 Commie wrong to have moved to
the left (4)
27 Panto dame’s son and why his ways
are deviant (5-5)1 Raised a drink, something taken at
restaurant in Nice (9)
2 What first-class fare gets the
foreign newly-wed (7)
3 Stylish Hilary for one maintains
business link? (8)
4 Current tributes inspiring small
hospital’s skills (15)
5 Perhaps a grey English fruit lacks
carbon (6)
6 Dean’s works are so absurdly
racialist (9)
7 Sprain muscle going about tango
opener (4,3)
13 Notice Yankee attack butter (5,4)
15 Dislike a pint drunk at Hackney
Arms (9)
16 Vestry typically holds object of
worship husband left (8)
18 Kiss player possessing fine special
quality (1,6)
20 Evergreen duchess’s elegance
pointed up somewhat (7)
21 Current going round Circle Line
track (6)Newspapers
support recycling
The recycled paper content of
UK newspapers in 2020 was 67%Martyn Ziegler, Owen Slot
The teenage Russian figure skater at
the centre of a doping scandal had
taken two legal heart-boosting drugs as
well as testing positive for a banned
substance, it emerged last night.
The existence of the three substances
were contained in a document submit-
ted to Kamila Valieva’s hearing before
the Court of Arbitration for Sport in
Beijing on Sunday, which gave the
15-year-old permission to continue
competing at the Winter Olympics
pending further investigations.
As well as trimetazidine, which is on
the list of banned drugs, being found in
her sample, she also declared at the
time of the test that she was taking two
other drugs, L-Carnatine and hypoxen,
which are commonly used in Russia to
treat heart conditions.
The New York Times first reported
the findings and that Valieva’s mother
testified that her daughter was taking
hypoxen because of heart “variations”.
The declaration of the two legal sub-
stances on Valieva’s doping control form
has also been verified by The Times.
L-Carnatine was used by Alberto
Salazar’s disgraced Nike Oregon
Project and is legal only if used below a
certain level. Hypoxen is commonly
used in Russia to treat angina and can
reduce oxygen consumption and
fatigue. The US Anti-Doping Agency
(Usada) asked the World Anti-Doping
Agency (Wada) in 2017 to consider
banning it after evidence that it was
commonly used by Russian athletes.
Trent’s trophy
swipe at City
Tom RoddyLiverpool’s Trent Alexander-Arnold
has made pointed reference to
Manchester City’s failure to win the
Champions League, suggesting that his
own club’s trophy haul was superior.
Alexander-Arnold, 23, was part of
the side who won the Champions
League in 2019 and the Premier League
the next season — the only time City
have failed to win the domestic title in
the past four years. However, he
rejected any suggestion his club were
lagging behind in terms of silverware.
“We don’t feel disappointed we
haven’t won enough trophies, because
we feel the ones we have won are the
biggest and the best,” he said. “Not
making any digs [but] you look at Man
City’s amazing team [and] they haven’t
been able to win the Champions
League, and we have won both.”
Full story, page 60Djokovic set
for Wimbledon
Stuart Fraser Tennis CorrespondentNovak Djokovic is expected to be
allowed to defend his Wimbledon title
this summer despite his refusal to be
vaccinated against Covid-19.
Speaking for the first time since his
deportation from Australia last month,
the 20-times grand-slam champion
from Serbia told the BBC in an inter-
view broadcast yesterday that he was
prepared to sacrifice his chance to
become the most successful player of all
time rather than receive a jab.
Asked if he was willing to miss
tournaments including Wimbledon
and the French Open, Djokovic replied:
“Yes, that is a price I’m willing to pay.”
He added: “The principles of
decision-making on my body are more
important than any title or anything
else. I’m trying to be in tune with my
Continued on page 59Wednesday February 16 2022 | the timesSp ort
O’Leary’s amazing outburst after
denying horse tilt at third win
Page 55Tiger Roll out of National
More drugs
in skater’s
doping case
Travis Tygart, the chief executive of
Usada, told The Times: “It’s incredible
and raises so many questions. It’s hard
to believe someone as young as 15
would have the capability, access and
money to take these substances so it
raises questions about who was behind
this. It seems quite sophisticated.”
The level of trimetazidine in Valieva’s
sample was “hardly trace amounts”,
Tygart added, saying: “The three of
those used together would seemingly be
to try to gain a performance enhance-
ment — such as dealing with shortness
of breath or improving stamina.”
Valieva made a tearful return to com-
petition yesterday. Her appearance in
the first part of the women’s singles
event came hours after claims in Russia
that her test result may have been the
result of accidentally ingesting medi-
cine used by her grandfather for a heart
condition by using the same glass as
him on Christmas Day.
Valieva is top of the scoreboard after
the short programme and is favourite
for gold when the event resumes,
having already won team gold. If she
finishes in the top three there will be no
medal ceremony and she faces a drug
hearing after the Games.
As a minor, Valieva will be eligible for
reduced sanctions if a positive drugs
test is proved. Instead of the minimum
four-year ban, she could face anything
from a two-year ban down to a repri-
mand — but a ban can only be avoided
if she and her backroom team can prove
no significant fault or negligence.
Report and analysis, page 56Teenager declared two legal heart substances
GETTY IMAGESUnited stop the rot
Ronaldo ends goal drought in
2-0 victory over Brighton
Pages 62-63Pep’s boys hit five in Portugal
Bernardo Silva scored twice as Manchester City won 5-0 away to Sporting
Lisbon in their Champions League last-16 first-leg tie — report, pages 64-65*