Olympia 2022: The anger of the competition against the miracle runner Valiewa is enormous

Medal ceremonies cancelled
The anger of the competition against the miracle runner Valiyeva is enormous

by Tim Schulze
02/17/2022, 11:55 am

After the short program, a few tears flowed from Kamila Valiyeva, the 15-year-old figure skater from Russia. She finished the first part of the individual competition on Tuesday as the leader with 82.16 points. It was her worst result for a short program this season, but it was enough to put her ahead of the competition. Valeva is currently the best figure skater in the world. At the moment, no one else can match her athleticism and expressiveness. Freestyle will follow on Thursday, and the competition will probably see only one gold medalist, Valiyeva, for a time.

No one doubts the young Russian’s genius, but one question weighs heavily on the Olympic competition. Can Valiyeva be there at all? In December she tested positive for the heart drug trimetazidine, but the Court of Arbitration for Sport Cas decided that she was allowed to compete in the individual competition. She had previously completed the team competition and won gold because the positive test was not yet known at that time.

Now everything is conditional. Whoever wins the medals in the end will be decided after the Olympic Games. For this reason, the IOC decided that the medal ceremonies would be cancelled. The failure also affected the awarding of medals in the team competition.

The competition is annoyed by the Russian team

It didn’t go down well with the competition. The USA team protested sharply against the canceled award ceremony. Anger was directed at the IOC and President Thomas Bach, who even met the Americans for a debate. Japan, who won bronze, decided not to meet. US trainer Adam Rippon had already raged before the short program about the “joke” that the competition was now showing. He later said that awards ceremonies are important for the athletes, coaches and families: “And now that experience is being stolen from them – by people who have been violating fair play for years and who shouldn’t be here at all.”

The statement makes it clear how much the competition is annoyed by the Russian team. “Do I feel sorry for Kamila? I don’t think so,” said Japanese runner Kaori Sakamoto, who placed third in the short program. She is not sure if the competition is fair. US Champion Maria Bell was equally reticent, but clear: “It seems wrong to me to punish people who have done nothing wrong”. She didn’t want to comment directly on the Valiyeva case, but allowed herself a dig at the Russian competitor: “I’m proud that I’ve always remained a clean athlete in my long career.”

The case of Kamila Valiyeva reinforces prejudices against Russia

It is all the more serious that Russia is already banned anyway because of systematic state doping. The athletes will compete under the flag of the Russian Olympic Committee, and instead of the national anthem, Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto No. 1 will be played at award ceremonies. And now the case of Valiyeva, a teenager who was apparently drugged to perform at his best and devalued competition. More bad PR is not possible.

The US athletes’ association AAC addressed exactly this topic, demanding that the IOC guarantee all participants “clean and fair games”. The international association Global Athletes made it clear that Valiewa should never have competed. There would be no discussion at all if the anti-doping agencies, the IOC and the Cas sports tribunal “had done their job and banned Russia from world sport”.

Sources: DPA, “Faz”, “Southgerman newspaper”