Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva placed fourth in the women’s figure skating final at the Beijing Winter Olympics on Thursday, capping off more than a week of controversy after the teen was cleared to skate despite testing positive for a banned substance.
Kamila Valieva: Fall on purpose| Did fall on purpose
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Valieva blamed her positive drug test on a mix-up that occurred with her grandfather’s medication, Denis Oswald, the Chair of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Disciplinary Commission, told reporters Tuesday.
However, the results only came to light during the Olympics. Last week, the Court of Arbitration for Sport gave Valieva the green light to continue competing in the Games because of the exceptional circumstances of her being a minor.
The fact that Valieva is a child and failed a drug test has put renewed focus on the adults around her and the alleged dark underworld of Russian figure skating beneath the glittering surface.
Did fall on purpose:
“It is clearly a wish and a decision of the IOC but also WADA to examine all aspects of this case including the situation of the entourage, because of course you can imagine a girl of 15 would not do something wrong alone — so yes, the entourage will be investigated,” said Oswald.
Global Athlete, an athlete-led group working for change across the sporting world, called Valieva’s positive drug test “evidence of abuse of a minor.” Like Valieva, Yulia Lipnitskaya was 15 when she helped Russia win gold in the team event at the 2014 Sochi Olympics. But at 19 years old, Lipitskaya retired from figure skating following a battle with anorexia and injuries.
Evgenia Medvedeva was 18 when she won two silver medals at the PyeongChang 2018 Olympics, one each for the single and team event. The two-time world champion unofficially retired from competition last year citing back injuries. And Medvedeva’s teammate Alina Zagitova, who won gold in PyeongChang at the age of 15, announced an indefinite break from competition at 19. Zagitova’s dominance was record breaking: she was Russia’s first skater to win Olympic gold, the World Figure Skating Championships, European Figure Skating Championships and the Grand Prix of Figure Skating.
