Kamila Valieva: Anti-doping Case and Follow-ups

[randomCanadian]

In other news...

US journalist pours scorn on Russian skater’s Beijing history

US reporter Christine Brennan offered a caustic take on Russian figure-skating as she questioned Alexandra Trusova's Olympic display

www.rt.com

Alexandra Trusova [...] trains in the same camp with the same coach as Kamila Valieva [...] now under investigation.



I would go even further... if we go the "guilt by association" route:

RandomCanadian live on the same planet as Kamila Valieva, who is under investigation for doping. RandomCanadian is therefore doping too.

 

[whatif]

Exactly!! And that they didn´t tell her so or pull her out is just a proof that they only care about medals and not what´s in her best interest. Apparently when they got the news about that she was allowed to compete from CAS, Eteri asked her why she wasn´t more happy and Kamila said something like that she was feeling emotionally empty. A sign. She cried in several practices, another sign. And what was the the first thing Eteri said to Kamila when she came off the ice after her skate today, traumatized? "Why didn´t you fight harder"?

I hope Kamilas family take good care of her, and remove her from Sambo 70. I hope Sasha leaves again as well. I hope Aliona leaves again, she just broke her other arm. Even Anna S who is normally very balanced said she felt very empty after her gold.

Edit:



This picture is so sad. This is Anna after winning her OGM....

Not only that image but that image was on live broadcast for a whole ten minutes, only interrupted by the other two dramas happening at the same time. It was excruciating to watch live.

 

[chris7]

After several years I finally joined this forum. Hello everybody!

So I watched the calamity that unfolded this morning. In fact I watched it twice (a second time when my SO woke up and had to see it immediately on Peacock). Johnny Weir was helpful with a few translations, and, well, everything else didn't need a translator. It was unbelievable. I have never seen anything like it at a skating event!

I was really happy for Sasha after her skate. She set a personal FS record and finally brought it when she needed it. I was so happy for Kaori too. Then Sherbakova skated and I actually agreed with the judges. She was the complete package and threw in an extra quad so I thought she should be ahead of Sasha. The scores were close but the placements were correct. So now I'm waiting for Valieva (who I think shouldn't even be allowed to skate but I'm curious), and I figured she'll come out and do what she always does. From MY perspective, she could've done that if she'd wanted. I'm not sure why, but after watching it twice I got a very strange sense...that maybe she was throwing it. I could be wrong, but something just didn't seem right. I guess we'll never know. Or maybe we will. LOL I was confused by Sasha's ranting and raving and I thought she couldn't bear to see Valieva crying, but after Johnny's translation I realized she was upset she didn't win gold. Then you had Valieva who alternated between sobbing and looking in shock. The whole thing was completely bonkers! The 3 coaches were ambling about looking concerned (esp Eteri). Poor Sherbakova was standing alone, then she sat down, then she got up again all the while looking lost and like she didn't know what to do. The whole thing was so bizarre. The organizers were running around everywhere. One was trying to tell Sasha what to do for the victory ceremony, but she wasn't having it (until some big Russian dude came up and said something to her). Oh and then Kaori started sobbing too, but I *think* they may have been tears of joy but I'm not sure. (Maybe just the release of stress?) And on top of all that you had Sasha spouting stuff at Eteri ("You knew everything, I hate all of you!") which completely blew me away! I still can't wrap my head around everything I saw. I think the tv spectators may need some therapy too!

 

[Mathman]

Welcome, Chris7. Post often, post long!

 

[millie]

No, it's not until sample B is open

She already has a failed drug test. It doesn’t matter with the Olympics now but she is going to have to worry about her European Gold medal being taken from her.

 

[el henry]

After several years I finally joined this forum. Hello everybody!

So I watched the calamity that unfolded this morning. In fact I watched it twice (a second time when my SO woke up and had to see it immediately on Peacock). Johnny Weir was helpful with a few translations, and, well, everything else didn't need a translator. It was unbelievable. I have never seen anything like it at a skating event!

I was really happy for Sasha after her skate. She set a personal FS record and finally brought it when she needed it. I was so happy for Kaori too. Then Sherbakova skated and I actually agreed with the judges. She was the complete package and threw in an extra quad so I thought she should be ahead of Sasha. The scores were close but the placements were correct. So now I'm waiting for Valieva (who I think shouldn't even be allowed to skate but I'm curious), and I figured she'll come out and do what she always does. From MY perspective, she could've done that if she'd wanted. I'm not sure why, but after watching it twice I got a very strange sense...that maybe she was throwing it. I could be wrong, but something just didn't seem right. I guess we'll never know. Or maybe we will. LOL I was confused by Sasha's ranting and raving and I thought she couldn't bear to see Valieva crying, but after Johnny's translation I realized she was upset she didn't win gold. Then you had Valieva who alternated between sobbing and looking in shock. The whole thing was completely bonkers! The 3 coaches were ambling about looking concerned (esp Eteri). Poor Sherbakova was standing alone, then she sat down, then she got up again all the while looking lost and like she didn't know what to do. The whole thing was so bizarre. The organizers were running around everywhere. One was trying to tell Sasha what to do for the victory ceremony, but she wasn't having it (until some big Russian dude came up and said something to her). Oh and then Kaori started sobbing too, but I *think* they may have been tears of joy but I'm not sure. (Maybe just the release of stress?) And on top of all that you had Sasha spouting stuff at Eteri ("You knew everything, I hate all of you!") which completely blew me away! I still can't wrap my head around everything I saw. I think the tv spectators may need some therapy too!

Welcome to Goldenskate Chris, post long and post often!

May I suggest that this post may be placed in the Women's Free Skate thread, as it gives your opinion on the free skate in general, and not just the "Doping" issue. It may get more reactions there.

 

[norwegianfairytale]

Not only that image but that image was on live broadcast for a whole ten minutes, only interrupted by the other two dramas happening at the same time. It was excruciating to watch live.

Yep... the chaos after the results is just the weirdest thing I watched in my life. Like someone else said, it felt like a bizarre movie. You know if Netflix want to do a documentary about this whole thing they have a lot of raw materials and they don´t need to exaggerate because the level of drama was real and just so sad...

 

[el henry]

In other news...

US journalist pours scorn on Russian skater’s Beijing history

US reporter Christine Brennan offered a caustic take on Russian figure-skating as she questioned Alexandra Trusova's Olympic display

www.rt.com

Alexandra Trusova [...] trains in the same camp with the same coach as Kamila Valieva [...] now under investigation.



I would go even further... if we go the "guilt by association" route:

RandomCanadian live on the same planet as Kamila Valieva, who is under investigation for doping. RandomCanadian is therefore doping too.

Christine Brennan is a straw person for me. I don't know anyone who approves of her methods or her over the top opinions.

Christine Brennan does not detract from the fact that SAMBO 70 and Rusfed failed Kamila.

That's it. Not the "West", not the "media", not the IOC, not the ISU, not WADA. (except to the extent they failed to re-apply the suspension).

If the correct parties could look in the mirror and acknowledge how they failed Kamila, maybe we might some good out of this. Maybe

 

[chris7]

Welcome to Goldenskate Chris, post long and post often!

May I suggest that this post may be placed in the Women's Free Skate thread, as it gives your opinion on the free skate in general, and not just the "Doping" issue. It may get more reactions there.

Can a mod move it for me? Not sure what to do. Can't see how to delete and don't have time to figure it out at the moment. Thanks!

 

[Ziotic]

No, it's not until sample B is open

Umm nope! She still failed a drug test.

 

[4everchan]

a lot of us have mentioned that Kamila had been failed by the adults around her... yes.. her coaches, her team, RUSADA... the ROC officials... but let's not forget that CAS also failed her. Irreparable harm and protected person... they saw it as if she were the champion already... they had to protect the champion... they needed to look at the child in her and say.. okay... here is a possible scenario : the media, the pressure, the suspicions around her team, the fact that she has two teammates competing as well, her coaches, her parents (and grandpa! LOL) and they could have thought : you know, if we want to protect this athlete, IN CASE she is forgiven from doping afterwards, we need to make sure she is sent home and gets some rest psychologically.... out and far away from this circus....

that decision would have taken balls... a lot of people would have yelled at them... ROC would have been furious...and I know it's easy to say now... but many of us on this forum mentioned it was a possibility that she would not perform well.

Irreparable harm ... well... you have it now... AND on top of that, it has spread to all of the other athletes, except perhaps to Kaori who skates with joy at all time and is probably immune to all of this exactly because she skates for the right reasons : joy, happiness, the feeling of speed and freedom on the ice.

I feel sorry for the sport... even for Anna whose gold will always be tainted with the : oh yeah... i remember the scandal that was around these games asterisk... even if she skated better than ever.

I hope this teaches all about what competing should be all about. It's not life and death... It's not winning at all costs... It's about aspiring together, aiming at the best together, and celebrating sport, together.

 

[Anna K.]

Can a mod move it for me? Not sure what to do. Can't see how to delete and don't have time to figure it out at the moment. Thanks!

Mods might be rather busy these days with heated discussions all around. What if you copy-paste your content to join the conversation in Women FS thread and delete this one yourself after you figure out how (by using the "delete" button which is placed next to "report" and "edit" buttons on the bottom of your post)?

Welcome aboard btw.

 

[Warwick360]

Yep... the chaos after the results is just the weirdest thing I watched in my life. Like someone else said, it felt like a bizarre movie. You know if Netflix want to do a documentary about this whole thing they have a lot of raw materials and they don´t need to exaggerate because the level of drama was real and just so sad...

If that movie had a tornado and a Tsunami all at once. That's the thing. After the score I expected Valieva's reaction. What I was not prepared for was the Trusova's fury.

 

[Mathman]

If that movie had a tornado and a Tsunami all at once. That's the thing. After the score I expected Valieva's reaction. What I was not prepared for was the Trusova's fury.

I think that Trusova's fury was pent up over the long term. Time after time she did more quads than the other girls but ended up with fewer points. It's tough to keep losing to competitors that you know you are better than. This time it bubbled over.

 

[millie]

Can a mod move it for me? Not sure what to do. Can't see how to delete and don't have time to figure it out at the moment. Thanks!

Keep it there until someone moves it. No problem,

 

[Ares]

Yep... the chaos after the results is just the weirdest thing I watched in my life. Like someone else said, it felt like a bizarre movie. You know if Netflix want to do a documentary about this whole thing they have a lot of raw materials and they don´t need to exaggerate because the level of drama was real and just so sad...

I would definitely watch a longer Netflix docu-series on that. But it might be difficult to do it in Russia as in getting a new material and there's a risk of "fetishising" this whole issue. I zoned out of following figure skating for 2 years and so much drama happened in that time even before these Olympic Games.

 

[tulosai]

I think that Trusova's fury was pent up over the long term. Time after time she did more quads than the other girls but ended up with fewer points. It's tough to keep losing to competitors that you know you are better than. This time it bubbled over.

The thing is though she's not better than them whatever she thinks, and she needs someone who is going to tell that to her straight. She is a PHENOMENAL jumping technician- undoubtedly the best female jumper OF ALL TIME, but the judges have sent her the clear message over and over that she cannot win even with all her quads unless she elevates the rest of her skating. She needs coaches who will help her do that.

I do think if she manages to muster the will to go forward she has a very good chance of still being competitive in 4 years; in fact I think she has the best shot of still being competitive in 4 years of all the current top Russian ladies. Hopefully she can face what she needs to improve and work hard to improve it.

 

[Warwick360]

I think that Trusova's fury was pent up over the long term. Time after time she did more quads than the other girls but ended up with fewer points. It's tough to keep losing to competitors that you know you are better than. This time it bubbled over.

For that I blame the judges. When you keep gifting points to a skater which much of the FS community don't agree PCS wise, it is bound to cause a sense of entitlement.

Having said that, she was far from perfect today, so I don't understand why she doesn't look inward. She could have easily got that 4 points if she only had gone double Axel in SP and perhaps gone good on the 2A-3T in FP. But even more so, she could have kept the quads more clean for better measure. But still kudos to her for going for it guns blazing. It's just a shame that I'll end up remembering her tantrum more than her wonderful FP, when I look back at this Olympics.

Edit: I said easily, but I think she might have also needed the quad toe to be cleaner. Actually, if only she had got that 4T clean, she would have won it seems.

 

[whatif]

Actually if you watch the broadcast again, Trusova seems pretty fine after Sherbakova's skate and you can see her with Anna in K&C with Kaori pretty OK. But once Valieva bombed she flew off the handle! I think she was ready for Valieva's gold but was not for Anna's gold.

 

[skatedreamer]

I've been working pretty much nonstop since 8:30 this morning and just checked the news a little while ago and I...am...gobsmacked. Need a little while to let it all sink in.