As Kamila Valieva prepared to begin her charge towards gold in the women’s singles figure skating competition, Olympians around the sport blasted her legitimacy in the games.
Just a day prior to the start of the free skate competition at the 2022 Olympics, Valieva was granted eligibility by the Court of Arbitration for Sport after her failed drug test was revealed a day after she helped lead the ROC to a gold medal in the team event.
“Dirty cheaters, and we are accommodating them,” said former American skater Adam Rippon, who coaches American – and Valieva’s opponent — Mariah Bell. “I don’t know how the Olympics recovers from this.”
Valieva tested positive for trimetazidine, a banned heart medication that could help with endurance. The test occurred six weeks ago at the Russian national championships, however, with the Russian Anti-Doping Agency claiming it was first notified of the positive test on Feb. 7 – a day after Valieva helped the ROC win gold in the team event.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled on an appeal made by the International Olympic Committee, World Anti-Doping Agency and International Skating Union in response to the ROC’s decision to lift Valieva’s ban.
Just 15 years old, the investigation primarily focuses on any wrongdoings committed by Valieva’s team around her, not the skater herself.
“What this says is that the team around her are child abusers,” Rippon said. “The only thing they care about is performance, and not the health and well being of their athletes. They are a factory that pumps out children who can compete, up to a certain point. It doesn’t feel like the coaches involved in the ladies’ program are coaches at all, but dog trainers; they’re running a circus.
“They shouldn’t be here at the Olympic Games. They’re clowns.”
The ROC claimed that Valieva repeatedly passed doping tests prior to her positive tests and have vehemently denied any wrongdoing, telling reporters, “We are absolutely sure that Kamila is innocent and clean.”
Sarah Hirshland, the chief executive of the U.S. committee, argued that clean Olympians are being denied “the right to know they are competing on a level playing field.”
“We are disappointed by the messages this sends,” Hirshland said. “This appears to be another chapter in the systemic and pervasive disregard for clean sport by Russia.”
Valieva has spoken just once amid the controversy, when she told reporters Monday that the past week has “been very difficult for me.” She has not publicly commented on her failed test, but she reportedly joined her lawyers and took part of her own defense to the The Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Former Canadian skater Scott Moir, who captured two Olympic gold medals in ice dance, believes Valieva’s continued participation stains his own accomplishments.
“I feel sick to my stomach. What I’m feeling is my whole dedication to my sport, to my community and to my country — I’m questioning it all,” Moir said. “I’m questioning why I walked into schools for the past 12 years of my life and told kids what pride I took in being an Olympian and what that means, and what power sports has in bringing the world together, for fair play and the Olympic morals that we all believe in.
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“I do feel for the 15-year-old, but at the end of the day if she did cheat, it’s very simple to me — she shouldn’t be competing. I do put the blame for that on people around her, and not so much on her. But this is a big hit to the Olympic movement.”
Anger over Valieva’s ruling expanded beyond the Winter Olympics as well.
American track star Sha’Carri Richardson got a 30-day suspension in July for testing positive for marijuana, resulting in her being banned from the 2020 Summer Olympics. The 21-year-old claimed she used marijuana, which she knew was banned, while mourning the recent death of her mother.
“Can we get a solid answer on the difference of her situation and mines? My mother died and I can’t run and was also favored to place top 3,” Richardson tweeted on Monday. “The only difference I see is I’m a black young lady.”
“Failed in December and the world just now know however my resulted was posted within a week and my name & talent was slaughtered to the people,” she added.”
