On Wednesday, a disciplinary panel from the Russian agency upheld her appeal to overturn the skater’s interim ban.

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The urgent hearing will only consider the question of the provisional ban at these games, said the International Testing Agency which is prosecuting on behalf of the IOC.

“The IOC will exercise its right to appeal and not to wait for the reasoned decision by RUSADA, because a decision is needed before the next competition the athlete is due to take part in,” the testing agency said.

Though Valieva is at the heart of the case, as a 15-year-old she has protections in the sports’ rule book – the World Anti-Doping Code. Under these guidelines she could ultimately receive just a simple reprimand.

The focus will turn on her entourage, such as coaches and team doctors, who face a mandatory investigation as “athlete support personnel” when a minor is implicated in doping rules violations.

Valieva looks likely to be disqualified from her Russian national title in December, but could still be cleared to compete in Beijing next week.

Under doping rules, her name typically wouldn’t be disclosed in investigations, the testing agency said in its statement. The organisation said it felt it was necessary to use her name as several media reports in recent days have named her.

IOC spokesman Mark Adams declined to give detailed comments, citing the ongoing case.

“We have a 100 per cent policy against doping, and clearly we will pursue all doping cases till the end,” he said. “But clearly in this specific case, it’s an active case and we are waiting for it to be fully seen to the end.”

AP, Bloomberg