Kamila Valieva: Anti-doping Case and Follow-ups

[skatedreamer]

I will 100 per cent not watch Valieva skate if she is allowed. I'm actually on the fence over whether I'm going to watch her two compatriots, to be honest, since I think it highly unlikely that Valieva's doping is somehow an isolated case. I think I very well may just watch everyone else and call it a day, not worrying about medals.

Regardless of whether or not Kamila is allowed to skate, I'll still watch the competition but not with the same pleasure.

 

[alida9250]

I will 100 per cent not watch Valieva skate if she is allowed. I'm actually on the fence over whether I'm going to watch her two compatriots, to be honest, since I think it highly unlikely that Valieva's doping is somehow an isolated case. I think I very well may just watch everyone else and call it a day, not worrying about medals.

I will not watch either

 

[*~RussianBleux~*]

At this point I can see that many countries would be happy if 90% of the score was artistic and 10% technical (with rules like allowing only 3 triple jumps in programs and only double jumps). I know, it sounds absurd, but even in this scenario I can see girls like Kamila standing out on the field.

Kamila definitely would but you are underestimating the Japanese and Korean field. You must not have seen the small juniors competing at their senior nationals. I watched Russian Jr nationals and while they were certainly very good, it wasn’t *that* amazing from a performance standpoint. Remove quads and they will have some formidable opponents from around the world.

Perhaps they will let the juniors keep trixel.

 

[chuckm]

In other news, if Kamila competes EVERYONE will be watching!

Not me. If Kamila is allowed to compete I will skip the women's event. I don't want to see Eteri and company getting what they set out to do and winning a big one for the dopers.

 

[millie]

I thought so too but then you look at the law maybe not olympic but there has to be intent in criminal law in the US aand Canada so ie if someone slipped something to you and you didnt know the prosecutor wouldl not have proven an element of the offence. It is rare. Now if it is a child it is even harder toshowthey had intent because of maturity but I guess this opens the door for Liu or Kaori or Wakaba or even Loena for a medal. None of this is right but I am not sure Valieva should lose her dream at no fault of her own.

Skater Boy, I am so happy that our Province is representing Canada in Curling. At least with Curling, they can’t Dope the Rocks…lol

 

[NaVi]

In Russia, it is widely known that ice skaters use hormone blockers to keep their bodies from changing during puberty. One of the interesting things about intense exercise during adolescence is that it can delay the onset and completely change how it runs ir course…same thing with gymnast….

I am skeptical of hormone blocker usage. If you block estrogen in growing children they'll grow taller and gain a lot of weight eventually. In actually, puberty is very reliant on body fat and so they keep body fat percentage low.

 

[Icey]

There are several scenarios as to how the drug got in her system, including someone spiking her food or drink. She appears to have nerves of steel in handling this. Amazing for someone 15.
Too bad the women, under the general conditions there, are having to wait so long for their competition to begin. Personally, I would want to get out of there as soon as possible.

 

[zanadude]

Skater Boy, I am so happy that our Province is representing Canada in Curling. At least with Curling, they can’t Dope the Rocks…lol

The rocks appear to be high on something. So many issues this time with the sensors and technical time outs so that officials can come down and manually confirm there is no violation of delivery.

 

[Tomadeur]

Not puzzling at all. For individual country federations to speak up right now would only add to the "noise" and not to the resolution. Could even be counterproductive. Sometimes best thing is to remain silent, at least until the appropriate moment comes. The international organizations that have direct standing for the integrity of the competition (IOC, ISU, WADA) are rightfully at the forefront as the complainants. I'm sure the USA, Japan, and Canada are perfectly happy to have these organizations carry the water on this.

And at least the American and Canadian federations have spoken to the issue, albeit very vaguely. Which is understandable given the information we have so far. Both had expressed that the integrity of the sport is important and that it is important to make a fair decision.

 

[Warwick360]

In other news, if Kamila competes EVERYONE will be watching!

A bit too presumptuous to say the least.

Personally, I would be watching because I'm an avid figure skating fan. However, most people I have seen on social media who follow figure skating only during the Olympics period are already left with bad taste in their mouths from this disclosure. I can only imagine them being turned off if Kamila is allowed to skate scot free.

 

[4everchan]

Not puzzling at all. For individual country federations to speak up right now would only add to the "noise" and not to the resolution. Could even be counterproductive. Sometimes best thing is to remain silent, at least until the appropriate moment comes. The international organizations that have direct standing for the integrity of the competition (IOC, ISU, WADA) are rightfully at the forefront as the complainants. I'm sure the USA, Japan, and Canada are perfectly happy to have these organizations carry the water on this.

good point.

 

[beachmouse]

What I find puzzling here is how the other countries federation are not speaking up. I have seen nothing from other nations here. I believe that for instance, some countries like Japan or USA should speak up on the behalf of their athletes in the team event and of the individual event.

Sometimes if a rival seems determined to keep stepping in a ... giant puddle of mud, it's best to just step back and let them. I'm sure there is chatter behind the scenes but this case actually puts the IOC in kind of a bad position because they had been promising key sponsors that their double secret probation approach to rehabilitating the Russian Olympic movement was going to work and instead it seems to have gone very visibly wrong. And now the IOC has to worry about unhappy sponsors who are concerned that a scandal will make it hard for their sponsors to use the Olympic brand to sell more Coca Cola Life and Samsung Galaxy phones at a time where television ratings are also falling off a cliff in some key markets.

And since the IOC and WADA seem to be willing to do the heavy lifting on the case, the individual national federations might as well focus on their own athletes and training first and let those other bodies deal with the Olympic bureaucracy.

Well I think the full court media pressure that has been happening is partially from the US Fed by way of the US media.

The US media seems, well, as excited about these games as the US general public does which is not nearly as much as it used to. I had a look at ESPN's web site a little bit ago, and while it's expected that the Super Bowl would be the biggest sporting event of the weekend because the country so loves the weird version of rugby we call football, the Olympic coverage on the home page was one or two lines in between the football and a really big section on regular season women's college basketball.

 

[zanadude]

Fortunately the crowd will only be made up of people hand-picked by the Chinese government, so the ROC skaters will get a warm reception regardless of what happens.

 

[4everchan]

A bit too presumptuous to say the least.

Personally, I would be watching because I'm an avid figure skating fan. However, most people I have seen on social media who follow figure skating only during the Olympics period are already left with bad taste in their mouths from this disclosure. I can only imagine them being turned off if Kamila is allowed to skate scot free.

exactly... my friends who are once every 4 year fans have already told me they are not watching anymore, not just women, but the figure skating ... they did watch the team event... They say it's because of the scandal, but I suspect some of them also don't like the 6am start time might be a combination of both. I am not 100% sure how I will feel about watching the event or not. It will depend on what is announced either way. I did watch the men and the RD and planning to watch the FD soon... but i have to say, I felt very "detached" when watching the dance the other day.... very weird because I am not a "detached" kind of person

 

[Amei]

In other news, if Kamila competes EVERYONE will be watching!

Well I've seen a fair amount of "if she's allowed to skate, I'm done with this farce of a sport" comments. While I do think a good number of those people would actually watch, it would be in disgust of the situation.

 

[Warwick360]

exactly... my friends who are once every 4 year fans have already told me they are not watching anymore, not just women, but the figure skating ... they did watch the team event... They say it's because of the scandal, but I suspect some of them also don't like the 6am start time might be a combination of both. I am not 100% sure how I will feel about watching the event or not. It will depend on what is announced either way. I did watch the men and the RD and planning to watch the FD soon... but i have to say, I felt very "detached" when watching the dance the other day.... very weird because I am not a "detached" kind of person

Perhaps it's also got to do with the arena being so empty. I thought Tokyo Olympics was understated, but Beijing feels even more emptier than that, even though I believe they have let comparatively more number of crowds in. Maybe it's the indoor nature of Figure skating. It just does not feel the same as the previous experiences.

 

[4everchan]

Perhaps it's also got to do with the arena being so empty. I thought Tokyo Olympics was understated, but Beijing feels even more emptier than that, even though I believe they have let comparatively more number of crowds in. Maybe it's the indoor nature of Figure skating. It just does not feel the same as the previous experiences.

it's part of it.. my mom just mentioned that on the phone how these games felt so boring (she doesn't really care for sports but likes to see the crowds cheering and wearing colourful gear and waving all kinds of flags...

So it could be part of that too...

I had mentioned it : postpone these games... Olympics should be a celebration ... not much of that is transposing on tv right now.

 

[silveruskate]

I'm just saying. All the pressure on the 15 year old girl's shoulders involved in one of the biggest Olympic scandals ever. I bet people want to see how she does. Whether they want to see her fail or succeed.

 

[zanadude]

it's part of it.. my mom just mentioned that on the phone how these games felt so boring (she doesn't really care for sports but likes to see the crowds cheering and wearing colourful gear and waving all kinds of flags...

So it could be part of that too...

I had mentioned it : postpone these games... Olympics should be a celebration ... not much of that is transposing on tv right now.

Still waiting for the right parenthesis to form an opinion on this post.

 

[Scott512]

For all the people here who are vehemently against the idea of Valieva skating in the ladies competition you do think it's fair for her rights to be represented in front of CAS don't you?

I mean if any of you were in a legal pinch I'm pretty sure you would want to be represented and have your voice heard.

We shuld not go by what Twitter and Christine Brennan say in the situation none of us know all the facts we probably don't even know half the facts. I say let it play out and let CAS make the decision on whether she skates or not and then everything unfolds after that including investigations. But the 15 year old girls rights have to be represented.