press review
Winter Games 2022
“A cold tragedy of abuse and pain”: This is how the international press commented on Kamila Valiyeva’s performance
15-year-old Russian figure skater Kamila Valiyeva failed almost tragically at the Beijing Olympics
© Peter Kneffel / DPA
Kamila Valiewa was considered Russia’s greatest hope for the Olympics – all the more tragic was the failure of the 15-year-old “miracle runner” to watch. The international press reviews.
15-year-old Russian figure skater Kamila Valiyeva failed almost tragically at the Beijing Olympics. After days of discussions about her doping offense, she missed a medal and ended up fourth. The press reviews at a glance.
Russia
“Sport Express”: “Kamila Valiewa did her best, and she can already be called a heroine for stepping on the ice. But the circumstances she faced had to affect her performance. (…) Unfortunately, it is the dream of millions has not come true.”
USA
Yahoo Sports: “Olympic figure skating hit a new low Thursday night, a cold tragedy of abuse and pain played out over three and a half hours. When it was over, the Russian women dominated the podium, the figure skaters reaching new heights in grace and athleticism, in a ceremony medals were handed out to the deserving winners… and almost everyone looked as miserable as if they were at a loved one’s funeral.”
“Washington Post”: “Kamila Valiyeva’s torment will be the sad legacy of the Beijing Games. These will forever be the Olympics that tormented a 15-year-old. Once the results were in, the real price of the doping scandal – as well as the questionable harshness that what the great Russian rotary revolution has brought us – obviously. A competition is disrupted, skaters are marked and no one is sure what comes next.”
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Great Britain
“Guardians”: “One question hung at the Capital Indoor Stadium as Kamila Valiyeva’s head dropped to her ankles, the tear duct refused to close and the Olympic dream of being the greatest figure skater in history tumbled horribly to the ground. Was it all really worth it? The negotiations and The global uproar of the past week was far beyond what a 15-year-old should endure.”
“Daily Mail”: “When it was all over, after the storm, the bitterness, the falls, so many falls, a broken child covered her face and cried. Kamila Valiyeva had lost and was lost. (…) Maybe we’ll get some answers in of the future. Probably not. But what we do know is that a 15-year-old was buried under the weight of a global scandal on her shoulders on Thursday night.”
France
“Le Figaro”: “For almost five minutes, the world witnessed the collapse of a 15-year-old figure skater live. Overwhelmed by the pressure and the consequences of a positive doping control. These games in Beijing should have been Kamila Valiyeva’s accession to the throne. The culmination of a meteoric rise (.. .). Everything pointed to a royal road to Beijing and a first Olympic title. Before the situation completely slipped out of her grasp and a huge mess broke out.”
“L’Equipe”: “So that’s it. A breakdown in front of the whole world. (…) A fall, then two. The feeling that four minutes is too long.”
Italy
Gazzetta dello Sport: “Falling star. Collapse of Valiewa. And her fourth place saves the world from embarrassment. Because there will be no medal with asterisks. The 15-year-old Russian will be overwhelmed by the doping case.”
“Corriere della Sera”: “Kamila breaks. Double victory for the Russians with psychodrama. The saddest gold of the Beijing Games goes to Russia. Kamila Valiyeva breaks under the pressure of the medal she should have won. Kamila cries while the age of innocence ends abruptly. She is Arrived in China as a child prodigy and leaves the country dirty as an ex-exceptional.”
“La Republica”: “Valieva’s tears. Now her career is a leap into the unknown. She slips and falls, the Russian team is already celebrating other stars. One of the saddest chapters of the Olympic Games ends as it has been prescribed for days.”
Spain
“El País”: “The pressure sinks Kamila, who does not make it onto the podium. (…) In the poisoned air of Beijing, the “Bolero” did not accompany a triumphal procession, as is usually the case, but rather a kind of requiem for Kamila Valiyeva, whose score was only for Fourth is enough.”
“El Mundo Deportivo”: “The Russian finished her participation in China in tears and without a medal, with a program full of mistakes that left her with no chance of an Olympic podium. She was first after the short program, in the spotlight because of her positive doping test, in the midst of the war between the Various sports organizations over the ongoing debate over her guilt or innocence, Kamila Valiyeva has reminded of the inescapable reality: she is still only a 15-year-old girl.”