The Russian doper situation grows worse and worse with each passing day. Kamila Valieva is 15 years old and she’s already won one Olympic gold medal in team competition. She was tested for banned substances on Christmas Day, and the results didn’t come back until last week, right in the middle of the Olympics. She came back positive for a banned substance: a performance-enhancing heart medication. The IOC held emergency hearings on Monday and they came to an extremely odd decision: considering her age and how “unfair” this was on Valieva, she would be allowed to continue competing alongside skaters who tested clean. Please remember that ROC is a made-up designation because Russia has a state-sponsored doping program, so Russian athletes are not allowed to compete under their own flag. Valieva’s defense – and the defense offered by the Russian Olympic Committee – was that Valieva somehow accidentally took her grandfather’s heart medication. Once. Well, that defense took a big turn:
The teenage Russian figure skater at the center of a doping case at the Beijing Olympics had three substances that can be used to treat heart conditions in the sample she provided to an antidoping laboratory before the Games, according to a document filed in her arbitration hearing on Sunday. The skater, Kamila Valieva, was cleared to continue competing in the Games by a panel of arbitrators on Monday even though one of the drugs found in her system, trimetazidine, is on the list of drugs banned by global antidoping officials. Valieva, 15, provided the sample in December, but Russian antidoping officials said they only learned of her positive result last week.
But according to documents reviewed by The New York Times and confirmed by someone who took part in the hearing, the Stockholm laboratory that carried out the examination of Valieva’s sample also found evidence of two other heart medications, Hypoxen and L-Carnitine, that are not on the banned list.
The presence of trimetazidine in Valieva’s system may have been a mistake, Russian and Olympic officials have suggested. But the discovery of several substances in the sample of an elite athlete, especially one as young as Valieva, was highly unusual, according to a prominent antidoping official.
“It’s a trifecta of substances — two of which are allowed, and one that is not allowed,” said Travis Tygart, the chief executive of the United States Anti-Doping Agency, when told of the discovery. He added that the benefits of such a combination could “be aimed at increasing endurance, reducing fatigue and promoting greater efficiency in using oxygen.”
Earlier on Tuesday, a member of the International Olympic Committee’s executive board told reporters that Valieva’s positive result might have stemmed from a case of contamination with medication that her grandfather has been taking. And in testimony provided to an earlier hearing with Russian antidoping officials on Feb. 9, and later submitted as evidence in Sunday’s hearing in Beijing, Valieva’s mother said her daughter was taking Hypoxen because of heart “variations.”
Valieva’s grandfather did not testify in the original hearing in Russia, but did provide a prerecorded video shot in a car, according to a portion of the document. In the video, the document said, he claimed to use trimetazidine periodically when he suffered “attacks,” and showed a packet of the medication to the camera. Valieva’s mother said in her evidence in the Russian hearing that Valieva’s grandfather accompanied the teenager to practice on a daily basis, and stayed with Valieva until her mother returned home from work.
So ROC’s defense of their doper athlete is that she accidentally got her granddad’s heart medication cross-contaminated with something she ate or drank? Was her grandfather grinding up his heart medication and spiking her energy drink “accidentally”? No, of course not. What happens is that WADA can’t keep up with all of the new variations of performance-enhancing drugs, nor can they keep up with all of the masking agents athletes take to hide the performance enhancing drugs. Valieva was taking multiple heart medications to help her training and performance ahead of the Olympics. She needs to be immediately suspended and likely banned from the sport. It wouldn’t hurt for WADA and the IOC to reopen their investigations into Russian doping programs either.
Photos courtesy of Getty ad Valieva’s Instagram.
https://www.instagram.com/kamilavalieva26/?hl=en
I don’t get it, why did it take almost A MONTH AND A HALF to get the results back from the lab? Why bother testing at all if you don’t know whether they’re clean or not before they start competing?
they tested her at the Olympics and it came up clean then.
I feel for her, but more for the other skaters, and Sha’carri. it’s unfortunate as her artistic side is so good. most of the time noncompetitive ice dancing is more aesthetically satisfying than three minute programs that are half jumps.
they need to investigate the coach and not let anyone from Russia compete next time.
I don’t watch or follow the Olympics and never have. So I don’t understand why Russian athletes are allowed to compete at all if Russia is banned from competing because they have a state sponsored doping program.
Part of the reason I don’t watch it is it’s a completely corrupt system (as evidenced by the current situation). I don’t doubt that a LOT of money has exchanged hands throughout.
I agree. She’s a 15 year old girl so I don’t think she is the one scheming and taking these drugs because she wants to. It seems that the adults in this situation aka her coach should be investigated and suspended as well. I feel for her since she is probably being forced to take these drugs that could cause her harm. Anyone taking drugs should be suspended.
The Russians deliberately mislabeled her sample so that it was not marked urgent for one. This stinks to high heavan. She needs to be sent home before the free skate.
The russians are awful cheats. hasn’t anyone seen Icarus, or I don’t know, paid attention to work events?
These heart meds are the same category of stuff MAria Sharipova was busted for taking, again, on another completely BS excuse. In order for any of this to stop, every single Russian athlete should be banned from competing because the state won’t stop sponsoring it while any of them are allowed to compete. Putin still showed up for the opening ceremony, despite the symbolic punishment of not letting russia compete under its own flag. They are terrible rotten spoilers and should be dealt with as such.
In addition to the mislabeling of the sample by the Russians, apparently the lab in Sweden was short staffed due to Omicron. Therefore, a number of factors converged to create this absolute mess.
I personally believe though, this is yet another example of Russian state-sponsored doping. I hope the IOC finally bans them entirely from the next games. It’s the only way to build back trust in the Olympics. Integrity matters so much more than medals.
By allowing her to skate, the Olympic committee is encouraging child abuse. She is so young, and they are putting goodness-knows what kind of substances in her little body.
I feel bad for her, but Russia should not have even been allowed to have athletes compete, even under their ROC name. They should be banned from all Olympic events for the next decade.
The IOC actually wanted her out. The international Court of arbitration for sport (yes, this is actually a thing) decided she should be allowed to compete until more information comes out, which will be never. The court is probably on the take…. No doubt half the IOC is too, or Russia wouldn’t even be at the Olympics (this “ROC” designation is an absolute farce, as this entire Olympics has proven).
This is so grotesque. Glad Tara Lipinski and Johnny Weir are fuming too. I wish all figure skating medalists and Olympians in general would come out and condemn Valieva—yes, the 15-year-old—for sullying their sport, and encourage her to take a better path away from those who are steering her wrong. Then she can defect to the US or somewhere, like they all do later. She should not be allowed to compete or keep ANY medal. And as so many have said, if she’s old enough to compete with adults, she’s old enough to face consequences like adults. It’s not like she’s going to jail. She just won’t be rewarded for cheating. Like you’re not supposed to be rewarded for cheating on tests—in school or in the Olympics.
Im pointing the finger towards her coach.
She’s old enough to know better. This has been her job for more than a decade, she knows the rules. This is unbelievably unfair to all the athletes at her level.
“This has been her job for more than a decade, she knows the rules. ”
If youre talking about Valieva here, it’s a gross thing to say. She was 5 years old a decade ago and is still a minor. She’s not an adult in the West with freedom and choices. She’s from a country that is repressive and cruel to its citizens unless they bend the way it wants them to.
Yes, it’s the coach who should be banned. It’s not ok to push kids over their limits and and their career over before they hit 18. Being able to do quads for a few months isn’t worth it. Of course Valieva shouldn’t get her medals, but let’s put the most blame on the system and the coaches that make it possible
Yeah, Tara even said she started getting tested at 11-12 years old and knew why and that it was part of the sport so I really don’t think this girl had no idea what was going ESPECIALLY being from Russia.
People think of a sweet and naive 15 year old girl. Not what she is. A pro athlete competing on a world stage. She knows. On some level she understands.
And knowing you had banned substances in your system… shouldn’t you understand you unfairly won and step down? Why even have testing if the results do nothing?
I’m not saying that she isn’t probably (pretty much certainly) being used and abused by the adults around her. I was just talking to the sentiment that she had no idea what was going on and was unknowingly doping. Now the question of if she had a choice or felt like she did is completely different. I think everyone involved knew what was going on but there is a huge power imbalance. The fact that she gets to skate AFTER Russia has already been “punished” for doping is unbelievable and like others have said, gives them carte blanche to keep on doing it. They haven’t learned a thing.
@Erin, I agree. She knew what she was taking. Now, she also is likely abused and had no choice in the matter. She certainly wasn’t out there procuring the drugs on her own, so there is plenty of blame to go around and in my opinion, she AND her coaches deserve the blame.
It doesn’t matter what she knew or did not. Because she tested positive, she should be banned. It’s not about merit or knowing – it’s a brightline test.
But I am firmly against pretending that a 15 year old is an adult regardless of her experience and level of competition. Setting aside the very real possibility that she had no choice at all in what she was taking (or eating, or when she was training), a 15-year old brain does not factor consequences like the brain of an adult. We set that aside way, way too much in this country (mostly directed at children who are minorities), and it needs to end across the board. She’s a child. She should be banned, but the character assisnation is unncessary and takes away from the good arguments that she should be banned.
I think it is a horrible situation for this very talented skater and the adults around her are to blame. The poor girl. I can’t imagine the strain and pressure she must be under and to feel that let down by all the adults around her that she probably trusted. That being said, if some Olympians get to compete under different circumstances than others — for instance, some can have drugs in their systems, while others can’t because of their age — then in my opinion they can’t be allowed to compete together. Should there be a ‘Children’s Olympics’ where the kids can all compete with positive drug tests and an ‘Adult Olympics’ where the adults are banned from competing for doping? Marion Jones had to return all her medals due to doping…
Yeah, I cannot lay blame on the the 15 year old. Historically, we have seen how easy it is to manipulate someone so young. She should be punished, for sure, but IMO, the blame should be laid on her coaches, parents, and any other handler/guardian/mentor who knew about this behavior and ignored it for the money, social capital, etc. The adults here are 100% exploiting this teen for their personal gain.
Same here. Though I’m sure Valieva knew why she was being tested, I have trouble believing that she knew exactly what she was taking. These are relatively obscure drugs from a layman’s perspective, and taking three at the same time suggests a level of sophistication that I don’t know that a 15 year old would have. Her coaches? I would bet money that they had a lot to do with it.
That said, Valieva should not be competing at all right now, Olympics or otherwise. Suspend her until a full investigation has been done, and let the other skaters (who are hopefully clean) compete fairly.
While I do not disagree with the sentiment that she should not be allowed to compete and her medals should be revoked, it is always shocking to me when people refuse to put themselves in someone else’s shoes and imagine what life must be like for that person. These children are groomed from early childhood. The same way in which young men and women are groomed by other abusers. And this girl grew up in a country that takes national pride to a violent level. Rebellion and dissidence are not tolerated. The moment she showed any kind of promise in her sport, her entire life would have been focused around that. It amazes me that people are so willing to take up the torch (pardon the pun) and champion victims of grooming in a sexual context (i.e. Epstein), yet they’re so quick to villainize a girl who was also groomed from a young to do what’s she told without question. Her medals should be stripped. But as a message to the people and organizations who put her in this position to begin with.
It’s a very unfortunate situation for a child to be in. The fact that Russian athletes are competing at all is total BS. By letting them compete Russia learned nothing and continues to dope it’s athletes. They need to be banned entirely if anything is going to change.
I completely agree. If she is old enough to compete at the senior level, then she is old enough to know all the “supplements” she is taking. She needs to be disqualified from the Olympics.
Defections ended when the Soviets fell. It’s now called applying for a work visa.
They shouldn’t be condemning a 15 year old girl but the adults who are doing this to her and others. The whole Russian team should be suspended and the adults responsible for this should be condemned not a young girl who is being abused and used and being coerced into taking part of this.
That monstrous coach needs to be banned too. Like yesterday. She sure as heck won’t face any other consequences if she isn’t banned by the IOC and others.
Blaming Camila is blaming a victim of abuse. She’s 15 years old and only her coaches should be held responsible. God knows what else they’ve done to her, forced her to train while injured, verbal abuse, emotional manipulation, even sexual abuse. If US Gymnastic participants were treated that way in a voluntary system, I hate to think how athletes are treated in a system run by Putin.
How vile, ignorant, and offensive of you. You clearly know nothing about how sports culture works in Russia (or anything about Russia). This child has not had a shred of agency since the day she put on her first pair of skates. Children, particularly girls, are given very little voice in this society. Have a little compassion and perspective, Jesus Christ!
Competitive figure skating is nasty at every level.
I just recently watched that documentary on Peacock called “Meddling” about the Russian/Canadian pair figure skater scandal. I knew the Olympic judges around skating were corrupt, but dang, they are REALLY corrupt.
wow! This is just so unfair to every other athlete who rightly sticks to the rules.
The case of her being a minor and willingly have taken it or not just makes it worse for this poor decision of keeping her in the competition. The doping in this case should be taken even more seriously. Not only she should be disqualified but there should be serious consequences for coach, medical team and so on.
It certainly must sting because maybe she would be able to win those medals without any of this, but as it is is just not fair.
And I do understand how Sha’Carri Richardson must feel in this moment.
She and her coach deserve a lifetime ban from the sport.
Yep, they both took the risk and should now be punished for it. Neither one gets a reprieve or a do-over. She’s young enough to pack up and start studying for university. Her coach shouldn’t be allowed in a gym or skating rink ever again.
It’s OK, you guys! I’m sure she just accidentally took her OTHER grandpa’s medication, too. And maybe the third one was her dog’s. WE DON’T HAVE ALL THE FACTS!
Heavy, heavy sarcasm there, if it wasn’t obvious. Russia should be banned from international competition, in all sports, for a long, long, LONG time. Something tells me that most of their athletes are just better at hiding their doping.
Pretty much can guarantee that all of the skaters coached by Eteri are doing the same thing. Which means all the Russian women this year.
Yes to this. All skaters coached by Eteri are on a cocktail. Valieva was just the one whose body didn’t cycle out the trimetazidine by the Russian nationals were held. This speaks to how knowledgeable her coaches are about drugs and timing.
Exactly. They are all doped up, Russia was busted for STATE SPONSORED DOPING so it’s not just the coach. It’s the entire system and none of these athletes are clean.
It’s horrific abuse of them but also the only way out – what a trap.
“Russia was busted for STATE SPONSORED DOPING so it’s not just the coach. It’s the entire system and none of these athletes are clean.”
Yes, and it’s not just figure skating It’s all sports.
It makes me mad that she was allowed to complete, and of course she’s in first place. And after she wins her medal there will be no medal ceremony which means the other two ladies who played by the rules are getting shafted and having their Olympic experience ruined by a cheater (whether she cheated knowingly or not). It’s so disheartening that the IOC caved to the ROC because now the ROC has carte blanc to continue what it’s always done knowing there are and never will be any repercussions. And I still don’t understand her sample taking 6 weeks to show up, yet Sha’Carri Richardson’s sample was posted in a week (and she popped for smoking pot to help her cope with her mother’s recent death – NOT a substance that can actually enhancing your athletic performance like Valieva did). I keep hoping the judges will step up and purposefully give Valieva low marks to make sure she doesn’t win a medal so the other ladies can have their moment of glory.
They are deliberately low-scoring other skaters who aren’t Russian. The entire event is a shitshow, and it’s supposed to be the marquee event of the games. The Olympic movement is officially dead. If Russia isn’t banned for this, then there’s no point in having Olympic competition. The athletes should consider their world championships the apex of their achievement and we need to end this farce for good. I think the Beijing Olympics will go down in history like the Berlin Olympics. Yes, there are some delightful stories of achievement by individual athletes (I will always love Jesse Owens sticking it to the supposedly “superior” Germans, and there have been wonderful feel-good stories of perserverance by the athletes at these games), but the Olympic movement itself is completely tarnished by cheating, corruption, cover-ups, and abuse, not to mention condoning state-sponsored genocide.
It’s so blatant too. How can the only woman who landed a clean triple axel be in fifth place? The Japanese women in particular were underscored in the short and even Tara commented on how high the scoring was for the Russian women.
they were doing it in snowboarding too, also to a Japanese athlete. people who aren’t even into sports were talking about it on twitter. and the commentator (who is ofc a former pro boarder) was all OMG WTF
Remember what happened in the Olympics’ 2002 skating? A judge, Marie-Reine Le Gounge, said that she had been pressured by the head of the French federation, Didier Gailhaguet, to put the Russians first as part of a deal to give the ice dancing gold to the French ice dance team. Google it if you don’t remember.
Judges cheating and making “deals” is nothing new.
” The Olympic movement is officially dead. If Russia isn’t banned for this, then there’s no point in having Olympic competition.”
I completely agree. Russia doping, and then the Olympic committee allowing them to STILL compete (under ROC) was bad enough. But this current allowance really makes the Olympics completely meaningless.
I used to watch, but now I can’t care about such a rigged event.
Send the poor girl home. Let the clean athletes compete. Get her therapy and into some safety, because it seems her family can’t be trusted either.
I don’t care whether she “knew”, which has been a debate here in the comments the last few days. Doesn’t matter to me. She’s 15. And knowing how much control Russia takes over its young athletes, I don’t believe she could say no. We have no idea what’s going on behind closed doors. I hope all the adults around her are held accountable.
If we had awful abuses happening in our own USA Gymnastics program – can you imagine what Russia’s figure skating world could be like?
Yeah, this is my point, too. How much agency does a 15 year old have? I really feel for this woman. 15 year olds need guidance and support—instead, she is being exploited by all of the adults around her. She may be technically complicit, but any psychologist or worker in adolescent development will tell you that someone this young is easily manipulated and also a victim here.
Even Russia’s adult athletes are probably afraid to say no. That could be seen as a form of dissent and they’d be liable to mysteriously fall out of a window soon after.
+1
YES. I came back on here to say just that! Everyone commenting is assuming this young woman makes choices and acts within a democratic setting. She is RUSSIAN. Considering Russia’s human rights violations and long legacy of violence and espionage, I have no doubt athletes are pressured to succeed through a number of means: money, threats to family, bodily harm, etc.
CAS should have upheld her suspension, they had the information on the multiple heart drugs found in her test. Testimony is subjective and anecdotal, data is not. Continued irreparable harms to her and others are being done by keeping her in the competition. Remove her, do the right thing.
The IOC and WADA wanted to kick her out-she appealed to the court of arbitration for sport and they said she could compete provisionally during the appea/investigation process instead of having a provisional ban like the IOC wanted
She’s a cheater and it’s a shame any of the Russians get to compete. I’ve refused to watch any of the womens peogram
Sports always need to be about fairness period. People got too caught up in her talent and are making excuses for her age. Fairness for all. She should have been suspended at the very minimum. Rules are rules.
I hope she doesn’t have any major health problems from this like Eteri’s other girls. This is just sad to give a 15 year old heart meds. I don’t believe the grandpa excuse.
She is an extraordinary skater. So beautiful. I am horrified people do this. How corrupt and disgusting.
Imagine what those meds can do to her growing body.
I watched the short program to see how it would be handled and not only did they put her in first despite a mistake, they underscored the Japanese woman who landed the triple axel perfectly and upgraded the other two Russian women despite making mistakes in their routine. So not only was this decision massively unfair, but the judges themselves are rigging it and not being subtle about it. Few of the the elements for the Russian skaters were out under review whereas almost all the elements for the closets competitors, the Japanese women, were marked under review giving them a chance to downgrade.
I don’t know if they are thinking that giving the figure skating women the top medals will stop Putin from invading Ukraine, but the judges are shredding the already poor reputation of figure skating and making the Sale Pelletier situation look like nothing.
Besides pretending she has her grandfather’s medication by mistake just makes it all worse. Test her hair and I bet we see long term evidence.
Eteri is a huge problem for the sport and they need to get rid of her. But I don’t see that happening based on who makes decisions in the ISU.
It was infuriating to watch last night’s program. Questionable judging all around. Even Tara and Johnny commented on the scoring inconsistencies.
I watched Eteri welcome her off the ice with a huge display of caring, and I yelled some not nice things at her through my tv. That skate should never have happened, and to see her being all motherly and kind just infuriated me. That woman is dangerous to the young skaters in her care, as is the entire coaching staff. While I feel for a 15 year old being exploited by the adults in her life – I’m assuming family, too – she failed a drug test and should be sent home, along with the entire ROC skating team. Eteri needs to go through some things…she’s ruined many young girls’ lives and health, and will continue to do so.
Wasn’t this also a career best? How did that happen? It’s the imperfect 10 all over again.
First. She shouldn’t be skating. With that said I feel for the girl. She was chosen specifically because she is a minor. The Russians have always cheated. As Soviets & now Russians. The Grandfather story is what she was told to say. The adults around her should be banned from sport forever. It is a shame for so many reasons & I do believe she is the innocence pawn to the nefarious people around her.
Second. There has been a lot of talk about She’Carri & her not being allow to run in the Olympics. The IOC was okay w/her competing. It was the USADA (US anti drug agency) that pulled her. The US Olympic athletes play clean. No exceptions. I understand pot isn’t a performance enhancing drug but it is banned by the USOC. It awful across the bored but the 2 cases aren’t similar.
I wouldn’t ban her because she’s a 15 year old child and I question the level of agency she has due to her age and the pervasive culture of doping in Russian sport, but I would suspend her. She should sit this Olympics out. You can’t have one rule for her and another for a Black American athlete who wasn’t doping but smoked marijuana in a jurisdiction where it is legal.
I loved how mad Tara and Johnny were commentating last night. It’s such a disgusting situation and she should not be competing. How horribly unfair to the other skaters. It seems pretty clear that the judges are favorable toward Russia, too.
That said, the blame lies on her coaches and it really alarms me that people are angry with a literal child about this. Even if she “knew what she was doing,” she is a CHILD who was probably scared of the consequences of saying no. Not to mention she was probably away from her family most of her life because Russia makes training your entire life if you’re this talented. She’s very likely been manipulated most of her life and I’m incredibly sad for her. A teenaged skater from Russia is NOT treated the same as a skater in the US.
The thing is she is fifteen. This is child abuse on a geopolitical level. It’s clear that if you represent Russia, you dope, likely with different degrees of forcing involved for different individuals. Her coach has her on a liquid diet to keep her small and thin, and there is a level of control exerted by coaches that says even if she chose to take something banned, she didn’t exactly have a free choice. Under 18s should be banned from competition at the adult level (preventing the “protected class” issue) and making coaches have to accept that thier charges will be adults, preventing them being burned through for the next tiny prepubescent. Oh and Russia must be blanket banned from the Olympics. This is not about an individual – this is about structured cheating.
Thank you. This story is appalling on so many levels, but we need to be clear that we’re talking about child abuse. This is a teenaged citizen of a totalitarian country who is being drugged. I don’t know what kind of meaningful agency she has in any aspect of her life.
Thank you. Kamila is the VICTIM of child abuse. Let’s think of all the implications of this.
The adults around her are abusers. Her “doctor” was a Russian national team doctor who doped up other athletes and got banned. An ROC banner just enabled him to come back. Her coach is a cartoon character level monster who turns girls into little disposable medal machines. And they are literally drugging her.
She shouldn’t be allowed to compete, the end! Of course we’ll never know but I seriously believe she was pressured or threatened into the grandpa story.
I did a little reading last night about the history of the women’s skating program in Russia. They find very young women and basically train them hard for a few years until they burn out. The program is rife with eating disorders and mental illness. I don’t know what the women get out of the deal – maybe a better life for their family? We’re talking about Putin’s Russia, after all.
And you don’t even need to go back very far in “history” to find all the abuse toward these young women. The CURRENT COACH leads so much of it, and I want her kicked the hell out and away from children forever.
I loved how Johnny and Tara basically refused to commentate on her program last night. I wish the broadcast took it further, like cutting to commercial right as she is about to skate, don’t come back until she’s leaving the kiss and cry. Show the results on screen, but only talk about the other skaters. It would be a great opportunity to highlight some of the lesser known skaters and praise their accomplishments. And if they have to mention Valieva, just leave it to her score and always refer to her as having a failed drug test and that she shouldn’t even be there.
I loved how Tara and Johnny said their peace at the at the beginning of her skate, and then – radio silence. The sad part is, she is an extraordinarily beautiful skater – there is great talent there. But her career and reputation has been ruined.
The truth is the network with license is as invested in showing her skating as Russia is, because everyone is watching. $$$ this is why, as much as I appreciate her talent, I will not watch.
I’m sure they didn’t want her pulled either. They’re making bank on her coming and going.
I wouldn’t put Johnny Weir up on a pedestal for his handling. He visited Eteri’s club last fall, had nothing but good things to say, gave her club a ton of publicity. He’s a pro skater, he absolutely knows that the way she trains the girls is negligent and dangerous–everyone in the skating world seems to know, but it’s worth it because they can jump quads consistently for 2 or 3 years before being forced into retirement at 17 or 18 because of severe back injuries.
It also really rubbed me the wrong way to see the johnny and tara bitching at/ blaming a 15 year old girl, but having no words about her coach. Because Eteri is powerful and they don’t want to actually piss her and the russians off–but they’ll put all the blame on a teenager, a russian teenager who might not even know what her coach is giving her–and they cannot say no to their coaches, if they do, they’re out of the program. Eteri already has Valieva’s replacement ready to go and Valieva is already close to aging out of the program anyway. Nobody really cares what happens to Valieva, doesn’t matter if she’s banned, she’s only got 2 or 3 years of skating left before she’s too injured. It’s just easier to blame her than challenge Eteri and the russians
Well this puts a new spin on her quads.
This is pure bullsh$hit. Sha’Carri Richardson was banned, and dropped from completing in the Olympics for smoking weed but this girl whether she was aware or not with her family or coaches was taking enhancement drugs is still allowed to compete? It’s sends a bad message in that Russia can continue to been rules and and taint things, and I’m sorry as a POC this looks so damn bad, and nobody can’t deny that it looks so bad. Because I don’t care she’s 15 if Sha’Carri got put out of the Olympics for smoking weed over her mom’s death her ass should be dumped out as well, period. This shows a blatant set of double standards and it just looks so bad so bad….. And they keep changing the narrative now she accidentally took her grandpa’s medication miss me with that BS!
Sha’Carri was banned by the USADA (US anti doping agency) because pit is banned & the US sends clean athletes. The IOC was okay w/Sha’Carri running the US was not. The Russian always cheat & would never ban an athlete for breaking the rules. I think the adults around this girl are guilty & should be banned from sport for life.
Whew Chile, the excuses and contortions y’all are making out here on Beyonce’s internet for this cheater.
These excuses and this grace would NEVER be extended to a young black girl. NEVER!
Absolutely! Apparently they can’t be extended to a young Asian woman either. Japan was criminally underscored.
Who among us hasn’t accidentally popped one of our grandpa’s heart pills? Amirite?
lol
Ohhhh! Heart medicine?! I was cold and thought it said it helps with Heat.
Russia just needs to be banned from any and all international sporting events until they can play clean. This whole situation is ridiculous, and the IOC’s baby-splitting solution only hurts the other skaters.
The documentary Icarus laid out how expansive and systemic the cheating has been for the entire Russian sports program and nothing will change unless the IOC bans Russia altogether or Putin isn’t running the country anymore.
That this one skater happened to get caught out but still skates and is given top marks despite obvious mistakes just makes a joke of the entire sport. Is that what the ISU wants?
LOVED IT that Johnny and Tara were SILENT when she was skating last night. Huge skating fan here, and this makes me SO angry for all the other skaters. Now, Valieva may be a victim of horrible treatment and handling, and that’s on her coaches, trainers, etc. Even so, she shouldn’t be skating.
Can someone tell me what Johnny and Tara said? I dont get the NBC coverage but am very interested as I’ve always loved Johnny’s skating and I know he has personal links with Russia.
The (very experienced) Eurosport guys basically commentated as if there was no issue.
Tara basically said that letting her skate with the positive drug test ruins the Olympics for all the other skaters and the Olympic movement itself. She also noted that while in the past she commented on Vasileva’s beautiful extensions and jumps that this puts everything into question.
They both said she should not be allowed to compete and then remained silent through her performance, repeating again at the end of it that she shouldn’t be allowed to compete.
Tara won her gold medal at the age of 15. She said she had been tested for 3-4 years at that point. she and her mother had to research every cold medicine, every everything that went into her body to avoid even an accidental slip up. I am not saying Kalieva had the same agency in her life, just that this is what gold medalists have to do. And they have been doing it a long time.
And then at the end Johnny said something to the effect of “That was Valieva’s short program. I’m sorry this is overshadowing your (the viewers’) Olympics.”
I wouldn’t be surprised if Kamila is blamed ultimately at home as well. She’s an international pariah at 15, and I don’t think she knows it yet. If Russia is banned from future events, the Russian establishment will probably blame her and not the system. That was my first thought when she came out with that ridiculous Grandpa story–they are preparing to shift the blame solely onto her if there are repercussions to Russia in the future, either through the ISU or the Olympics. It’s easier for an autocratic state to blame a 15 year old girl than to dismantle a system based on abuse and enforced by fear. That’s why i wanted her to be sent home–it’s truly the best possible outcome for her. If she wins, and even if she’s given a medal at the end of the day, she loses. If she wins, she denies the other Olympians their podium. If she’s ultimately given a medal, most people will believe it’s corruption. She will be forever known as the Olympic winner who cheated. I’m thinking now of Canadian sprinter Ben Johnson, who broke the world record in the 100 at the Seoul Olympics, only to have his medal stripped when he was caught doping. I saw a documentary on how he became a pariah in the running community. I think that Kamila will become a pariah as well. She’s certainly lost the respect of her competitors, and the global skating community. Yes, people are blaming her coaches, but she’s the one who doped. No one is going to talk about her talent in the future. This is the legacy she’s building for herself. Fake an injury if you must and withdraw, Kamila.
I am not so sure.
There are already a lot of comments about her coach (who no doubt has dozens of young girls lined up to replace Valieva- the process will just have to be accelerated)- if you look at the previous champions she has coached they all seem to retire prematurely, either with burnout or long term injuries.
Retired skaters, like legend Katarina Witt or US skater Adam Rippon, have firmly placed the blame on her coach.
Saying that, Valieve shouldn’t have been allowed to enter the Olympics.
I read an opinion piece that felt her coach knew exactly what he was doing, knowing that since she’s 15 she would likely get excused as a minor. The article implied that the doping and corruption was well thought out and intended to disrupt things, all while still allowing her to skate and win.
That’s one thing some of the Russians love to do, isn’t it? Disrupt things and sow dissension. It would be nice if the Olympics was one place where they didn’t get away with doing that. Through one 15 year old girl who is an extraordinary skater, but who ingested banned substances, the entire skating event in the Olympics is now tarnished, and this scandal is the only topic of conversation. Plus, all the other skaters who have worked for this dream for years are being overlooked and denied their cleanly won medal ceremonies. That’s not an insignificant thing, either.
@Babz- exactly.
There’s been doping in the Olympics for decades. You youngsters probably don’t remember this, but during the Cold War, people made all kinds of jokes about the Soviet team and the East Germans because everyone knew they were doping.
And, of course, Americans aren’t innocent in this either. Remember Michael Johnson, Marion Jones, Carl Lewis?
It’s sad that this is all coming down on a 15 year old girl with no real choice in the matter, right now. But I think it’s important to remember that she’s a symptom; not the disease.
Yes, I guess we’ve all been lied to and the real spirit of the Olympics is cheat until you get caught. Isn’t it assumed at this point that everyone does it with more refined techniques?
Michael Johnson and Marion Jones should get their medals back and an apology from the IOC, since doping is totally allowed now. Antonio Pettigrew’s family is owed an apology, he committed suicide after losing his relay metal for doping.
Nobody was extending them grace or seeing them as a symptom of a larger problem. Lots of scorn and disgrace.
Johnson didn’t dope?
He returned his relay medal because his teammates were embroiled in a doping controversy and he felt the medal was tainted.
Exactly. And he should get his medal back.
Just for the record, here’s a list of just a FEW athletes whose Olympics has been tainted and overshadowed by this scandal: Kaori Sakamoto, Wakaba Higuchi, You Young, Mariah Bell, Karen Chen, Alysa Liu…
A few of them are around Valieva’s age, but let’s not talk about how this ruling is unfair to them and the “irreplaceable harm” that it’s doing to their experience. It’s not like any of them spent YEARS training and prepping for their chance to compete at the Olympics. I’m pretty sure they can wait a couple more years for another Olympic skate and a chance to compete against other clean skaters without the media glare on a doping scandal.
Did anyone see Kaori Sakamoto’s performance? No quad, one double axel, and a few triples, a lot of confidence, and a nearly flawless dance routine landed her third behind 2 flawed performances given by Valieva and Shcherbakova. Sakamoto’s reaction to placing third was just priceless, but she deserved to be higher. Her teammate Higuchi landed a clean triple axel, but no one’s talking about the Japanese women and their performances. They should be in top 3 positions. They followed the rules, did not dope, and we should be talking about them as well as the other performances. But the media is still focused on Valieva. And while we’re at it, if we’re going to talk about Valieva, why not also her teammates who scored much higher, with their bobbles and missteps, over the Japanese women?
It’s good to see other athletes — Scott Hamilton, Yuna Kim, Evan Lysacek, and Adam Rippon — voice their criticisms.
I agree with your last statement. How must it feel for her that entire international skaing community thinks she’s a cheater? Will she be invited to perform in ice shows around the world? Will people refuse to skate with her outside of competition/ How long will it be until comedians start making jokes about her and Tonya Harding? I remember the Tonight show making a joke about the Russian pairs in 2002, holding up a box of cereal called “Cheaties”. (I also remember the pairs skaters saying they felt hurt by that, as the judging fixing wasn’t about them per se but about Russia)
The poor girl said she wanted to travel the world, but she might end up just staying in Russia (even though I think the Russian’s celebration of her is a mile wide and an inch deep. If it comes to blaming her or blaming the Russian skating system, I think they will blame her).
Sakamoto and Higuchi both had cleaner technical performances than Valieva and Trusova and higher technical levels than shcherbakova. And Sakamoto in particular has a more complex program in between the jump elements which should have placed her ahead of Valieva and Shcherbakova. The Japanese women are being robbed by the judges here.
Technical elements aren’t everything. The Russians also have much more graceful and beautiful aesthetic elements. I despise their cheating, but technical elements aren’t everything for good reason.
Kaori Sakamoto is a powerful and exquisite skater. She should have placed in the top 5 in the 2018 Olympics. The Japanese figure skaters are being robbed by the judges.
The Japanese women are quite graceful as well so I’m not sure why only the Russian women would get the benefit. The programs as designed by Eteri are not as sophisticated as the ones done by the others and they rely on big jumps and with Valieva some flexibility on the spins. But all the connections between those elements are very basic and yet they get credit for it in the vague category of program components.
I watched both the American and Canadian coverage and both of them noted how the Japanese women were being underscored by the judges.
And then there is the whole issue of how Eteri’s students age out by about 18 and many have significant injuries because of the poor technique used to learn quads.
I think the age allowing to compete in the olympics should be raised to level it with the age you’re responsible for doping test result.
If she was 16, she would have been banned, end of story.
They are in China. The judges will do whatever makes China happy or risk being sent home. Warnings on behavior sent to the team’s pre Olympics.
I can’t help but feel like this is smoke and mirrors, and she is the sacrificial lamb for a bigger controversy that will eventually come out. It’s easy to use a 15yo as a prop and keep people focused on her while you are gathering troops at the border with Ukraine.
Wtf?! This excuse is laughable. Sounds like some terrible teenager excuse but this is coming from Russia. Sure Jan, she accidentally took her granddads heart meds. Happens all the time!
Can’t they just… learn from their mistakes? In my lifetime I lost count of the amount of Russian dopings. I know other countries have had cheaters in other sports (Lance Armstrong?), but with Russia it feels like a recurring thing.
Why should they change? They never actually get punished by it.
Exactly – why should they change? Even in this thread half the posts are defending Valieva.
(I have sympathy for her, she’s freaking 15, but by allowing her to skate Russia and her coach are getting away with this, yet again.)
I could only watch a little bit of the women’s skating program before I turned it off. I just feel so bad for all of the clean skaters who worked so hard to get to the Olympics only to be slapped in the face with this decision to let Russia keep drugging children for a medal count.
Kamila should withdraw from the competition but her psycho coach and Russia would never let her.
Applause!
L-carntine is a SUPPLEMENT. It helps improve endurance and helps mobile
Fat stores for energy. Why they are even mentioning it is beyond me. Literally every athlete should take this if they don’t already. Same with anybody who works out!
Yes, I was going to say, I don’t take it but I’ve seen it and know what it is. It’s available over the counter. It isn’t banned, so I don’t know why they are even mentioning it. There is nothing wrong with taking supplements, like vitamins, things for joint and heart health, etc.
She took a banned med. She broke the rules (or her handlers broke it) and the others followed them. That’s the story…..not this thing about a perfectly acceptable supplement.
There’s no way Kamila Valieva should be competing.
That said I DO feel sorry for her. Kamila is a very talented 15 year old minor. She is not in charge. Russia is not a democracy. She does what her coach and the Russian Olympic Committee members tell her to do. Or else.
Kamila is definitely a pawn for Russia’s Olympic propaganda machine. And Kamila is very probably a pawn in the greater geopolitical conflict among nations right now which is exacerbated by the current crisis in the Ukraine.
The Olympics, the sport of figure skating and Kamila Valieva are all diminished by this shameful travesty!
“but Russian antidoping officials said they only learned of her positive result last week”
There are no such things (Russian anti-doping officials). There is no doping control, only the appearance of it. If there were, she would not be allowed to compete with this positive test. WADA/CAS has just proven this. There is no Russia ban, or they would not be there under any name or any flag. There is only ever the appearance of a Russia ban.
Illusion versus reality. CAS doesn’t care who dopes, Russia was never really banned. I’ve barely watched the Olympics these past few days, and I am definitely done with figure skating entirely.
I keep thinking about how the adult(s) in her life knowingly fed unnecessary heart medication to a child. I don’t know if they will have any long term consequences, but it doesn’t show a particular regard for Kamila as a person.
Her coach in particular doesn’t care because she’s already gone through skaters who had to quit by age 18 due to injuries caused by the bad technique she uses to teach the quad jumps. And basically puberty has to be delayed because it ruins how the jump was taught in the first place. (And of course there are severe restrictions regarding food)
This problem goes beyond Kamila since the coach Eteri is comparable to Bella Karolyi with the abusive treatment that is state sponsored because there has been some success.
@Sasha, L-carnitine is a form of amino acid and not a banned substance, but an excess by infusion above a certain concentration is against the rules.
TBH, this is one of the reasons I haven’t bothered watching skating in years. Same goes for tennis. The doping and cheating and fixing…it’s ludicrous.
I don’t think she should compete, but it’s wild to read so many people saying that this child should’ve said no to the drugs despite the social, financial, and familial pressure but those grown women in the Tinder Swindler couldn’t say no? Like…
don’t think she should compete, but it’s wild to read so many people saying that this child should’ve said no to the drugs despite the social, financial, and familial pressure but those grown women in the Tinder Swindler couldn’t say no? —- Well there’s that. I think she knows maybe she’s upset by being forced to cheat, maybe she’s all for it, who knows? I think she shouldn’t compete and I also have no sympathy for the Tinder Swindler victims. Ok , he fools you initially but once you see that he’s partying on your dime… Seriously?????
She should be stripped of any medals and banned from skating. I’m sorry but she knows the system that she’s under, lying and saying she accidentally took her Grandpa’s meds. She is an active participant. The Audacity of Caucasity and the willingness to allow habitual cheats to continue cheating win again.
The audacity that she wants to live another day. Do you really think she had any choice in lying about the grandpa heart medication. I’m sure her whole family is forced to stick with this lie. People seem to forget she is in Russia, where you can easily disappear for refusing or speaking up for yourself. I hope she finds safety away from her coach and ice skating.
If she was a child of color, no one would be twisting themselves into a pretzel to defend her because we’ re ALWAYS seen as adults and her parents would be called every name in the book. Is this entirely her fault, no. Do I believe that she is as naive and helpless as people claim ? NOPE.
She needs to be disqualified. She can point the finger at her team and not the IOC. Sure she may be innocent and it may be unfair to have her career ruined, but that’s on the adults around her. She can take it up with them. It’s not fair to all the clean athletes that a doper gets to compete.
This is where I am. Yes, she’s 15 years old. Yes, I’m sure she’s manipulated and abused, and the Russian olympic machine (bc its not just figure skating) is scary and abusive and I feel bad for the athletes caught up in it.
But she was still the one caught with banned substances in her body. She’s the one actually competing, so she needs to be the one to be disqualified. Russia is going to keep doing this as long as they keep getting away with it, so its time for someone to actually enforce the rules for them.
It’s possible to both have sympathy for her because of her age and likely lack of agency, and also to think she should not be competing anymore.
The IOC is so corrupt. Why are the ROC even there? Why is anyone there?
She looks like a totally different person in the first photo. I really hate what the Russian skating federation and her terrible coach have done to her. That child is so broken, and she’ll be cast away just like the rest of the Russian ice skaters once they’re no longer underdeveloped and useful.