Another Russian Doping Scandal

February 16, 2022  /  0 Comments
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Another Russian Doping Scandal
Russian figure skater, Kamila Valierva. (Photo from Google Images) Another Russian Doping Scandal

There was so much controversy over supporting or to not support the Winter Olympics in Beijing, China. Add in a Russian scandal and all feels right in the world. To rephrase it, is there even an Olympics without a Russian scandal?

I love the Olympics! I love cheering for the stars and stripes, even when I can only name a handful of athletes. However, the Beijing Olympics just feels off. Even if team USA was dominating the medal count, it still doesn’t feel like the Olympic games. But leave it to the Russian’s to cheat their way to the medal podium.

Going For Gold

The biggest story in figure skating should be on team USA’s Nathan Chen. Chen’s gold medal win makes him the first American figure skater to win gold since 2010. Chen is the second figure skater to win gold in the last 30 years for team USA. Only seven American men have won gold in Olympic skating history. Chen also set two new world records with his short program score of 113.97 and his combined score of 332.60. Talk about redemp-chen from his 5th place finish in the 2018 Olympics.

On the other hand, the US women’s figure skaters will most likely not medal at all. They finished the short program in 8th, 11th and 13th place. Of course, in first place is the 15-year old Russian dope queen, Kamila Valierva. Russia is expected to sweep the medal podium. Shocker!

Russia, the country that can’t even compete under its own name is back to cheating, AGAIN! The Russian athletes are competing as the “Russian Olympic Committee” (ROC). The World Anti-Doping Agency gave Russia a two-year ban in 2019 for its state-sponsored doping scandal. (The ban ends in December.) Insert eyeroll. We all know the ROC is still Russia. Vladimir Putin is still allowed to attend. This is not a punishment to Russia. This is a punishment to every other athlete who had to follow the rules and not take banned substances.

Timeline

12/25/2021 The Russian Anti-Doping Agency, ( RUSADA), tested Valieva for performance-enhancing drugs after winning the Russian Figure Skating Championships by 20-points.

1/15/2022 Valierva scored 90.45 in the short program. (The highest score ever recorded in a short program.) More than 14-points higher than the 2nd place skater at the European Figure Skating Championships

2/6/2022 Valierva was able to skate in the women’s single skating short program during the team event.

2/7/22 Helped the ROC win the gold medal in the team event with her free skate.

2/8/22 The medal ceremony for the team event scheduled for that evening was postponed. A World Anti-Doping Agency-accredited laboratory in Stockholm reported to RUSADA that the sample collected on 12/25 had returned an “adverse analytical finding for the non-specified prohibited substance trimetazidine”.

(Trimetazidine has been banned by the WADA since 2014. It is a medication that increases blood flow to the heart and is used to treat angina.)

2/11/22 Valieva’s positive test is officially made public.

2/14/22 The IOC announced Valieva was cleared to compete despite the positive doping test in December. There will be no flower ceremony and no medal ceremony should Valieva finish on the medal podium.

2/15/22 Valieva finished first in the short program. (A far less dominating performance.)

2/17/22 Valieva is scheduled to compete for a medal in the women’s single skating free skate.

https://twitter.com/johnnygweir/status/1493118848295448579?s=21

The Excuse

The latest excuse for the banned substance is that she “accidentally” swallowed her grandfather’s heart medication, Trimetazidine. I mean, at least try to cover up the scandal with a medical reason for needing the drug. “Accidentally” took her grandpa’s meds, shut the front door! She knew exactly what she was taking. I don’t care if she is 15-years old, it doesn’t give her a pass to still be able to compete. Remember with USA track star, Sha’Carri Richardson was suspended and not allowed to race in the summer Olympics for THC? Tell me what the difference is here? After all, only three states in the United States declare marijuana full illegal. How was Shar’Carri not allowed to compete, but Valieva is allowed??

I’m not going to pretend I know the difference between a Triple Lux, a Triple Loop, or a Triple Axel. The scoring still confuses me and why do they have to get so close to the dang wall? But what I do know is that the best part of Olympic skating is listening to commentators Tara Lipinski and Johnny Weir. They are funny and their personalities make the sport more entertaining. (Terry Gannon is also on their broadcast team.) Both Lipinski and Weir were vocal about the decision to allow Valieva to skate.

During Kamila Valieva’s short performance, Lipinski and Weir were nearly silent.

Just a reminder, Tara Lipinski won the Gold medal at 15-years old without cheating. The IOC should be embarrassed that THEY allowed another Russian doping scandal to dominate the Olympics

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