Kamila Valieva and doping: how a scandal ruined a career and broke a talented young athlete

15 year old Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva became a real star of the Beijing Olympics. She will go down in history as the first figure skater to land a quad at the Games. But the star did not have time to shine brightly, as it already got into a scandal. Read more about the reasons told the publication with the BBC.

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Universal admiration and admiration

The young Russian woman was discussed by all the media, sports experts and fans. She came to adult sports only six months ago and during this time managed to set several world records, became the champion of Europe in 2022.

After her performance in Beijing, with the light hand of the British press, she was firmly entrenched in the title of "Miss Perfection", and some commentators are already calling her the greatest figure skater.

In the Chinese social network Weibo, posts with the hashtag #valieva collect tens of millions of views and responses, and user interest is growing every day.

Her performance deservedly caused general euphoria, but at the same time it made us think about the future of women's figure skating in general.

The world went around photographs in which Valieva hangs in the air parallel to the ice. "History is done" and "She laughs at the laws of physics" - these are the two main headlines that appeared in the world press after her speech.

In fairness, it should be noted that quadruple jumps in women's skating are not so rare. At different times, this element was performed at junior competitions by Japanese Miki Ando and Kamila Valieva's teammates Alexander Trusov and Anna Shcherbakova (the three of them are pupils of Eteri Tutberidze), as well as an athlete from Kazakhstan Elisabeth Tursynbayeva at the only adult world championship.

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But if earlier it was considered rare personal achievements, mainly in junior sports, then the repeated, almost routine performance of Valieva's element in the Olympic program can be the beginning of a new reality and give impetus to a number of irreversible changes in women's single skating.

Doping scandal

On February 7, 2022, the results of Valieva's doping tests became known. They were made on December 25, 2021. According to the results, three substances to support the heart were found in the figure skater's blood: TMZ (trimetazidine), L-carnitine and Hypoxen, writes Фокус.

It was about removing the skater from participating in the Games, but her age and the fact that the doping test immediately before the competition was negative played into her hands - the athlete was allowed to perform in the short and free programs.

Tragically in this situation is that the victim was an underage figure skater, in fact still a child. And on her fragile back, she has to endure the consequences of a large-scale confrontation. It's not fair. Considering how quickly the sun set in the careers of many Russian figure skaters in the past (at a very young age they achieved outstanding results, and then also quickly faded into the shadows), it is possible that this Olympics will be the only one for Valieva, writes DW.

But many wondered if a 15-year-old girl, in fact a child, could have known what drugs to take as doping, and could the coaches lose sight of this?

The head of USADA (American Anti-Doping Agency) Travis Taggart expressed his opinion on this matter:

“This raises a lot of questions. It seems that we are dealing with a deliberate attempt to improve athletic performance through drugs, he suggested. - The picture emerges as follows. There is a 15 year old girl. But does she have the necessary funds to purchase drugs, the knowledge of what exactly needs to be bought, the financial resources to find and use these drugs correctly: one of them is the banned TMZ and also Hypoxen along with the supplement L-carnitine to increase stamina and reduce fatigue?

Two-time Olympic champion Katarina Witt supported Kamila Valieva, writes DW.

“This girl, who captivates with athleticism and grace, is 15 years old, she is a minor. And I am convinced that she is not to blame here,” Witt said.

The champion emphasized that athletes always follow the advice of trusted persons: coaching and medical teams. And if it turns out that Valieva received doping from the staff, then these people should be removed from the sport forever.

“Knowingly exposing a young athlete to this is unprecedented inhumanity,” Witt said.

While the investigation is ongoing, all Valieva's results are marked as preliminary.

Recent performance and loss

At her next performance, Valieva fell several times during her free skate and placed fourth.

The head of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach, admitted that he was very uncomfortable watching the behavior of the coaches of the 15-year-old figure skater after her unsuccessful performance in the finals of the women's individual tournament.

Immediately after the performance, Valieva’s coach Eteri Tutberidze did not hug her ward, but instead asked: “Why did you stop wrestling at all? Well, explain." After that, she nevertheless hugged Valieva when the athlete and the coach were waiting for the announcement of the results.

Bach reacted to this scene like this: “When I saw how her inner circle accepted it, it looked like incredible coldness, I just have a chill on my skin ... And this, instead of calming her down, try to help.”

According to Bach, what was happening made him "incredibly upset."

“All this does not give me faith in Camila’s inner circle – neither in terms of what happened in the past, nor in terms of the future,” the head of the IOC said. “In a sense, what should be the approach to an underage 15-year-old athlete who faces such obvious psychological pressure.”

What they say in Russia

After Bach's statements, the head of the Russian Figure Skating Federation (FFKKR) Alexander Gorshkov spoke in defense of Tutberidze, for whom the words of the head of the IOC caused "extreme bewilderment."

“Perhaps, dear Mr. President, turned on the wrong TV channel or there was interference in the broadcast, since the multimillion-dollar audience of TV viewers and all those who were at that moment in the arena saw a completely different picture,” Gorshkov assured. - Everyone who was next to Camila at that moment - both her entourage and our entire team - did everything possible to support her in this exceptionally difficult moment, so it is more than strange for us to hear that the same structures that, by violating rules and laws, did everything to morally crush Camila, now they are trying to shift the blame from a sick head to a healthy one, blaming the Tutberidze team for everything.

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Bach's words were also commented on by Deputy Prime Minister of Russia Dmitry Chernyshenko.

“We are disappointed that the President of the IOC creates his own fictional stories about the feelings of our athletes and then passes them off publicly as the voice of the IOC. This is frankly inappropriate and wrong,” the official said.

He described the Russian skaters' emotions as "a known pressure" that "also helps them move forward with fighting spirit".

“Russia still won the gold and silver medals in the singles competition thanks to Anna Shcherbakova and Alexandra Trusova. They both train with Tutberidze, ”Chernyshenko said at the same time.

Questions to Tutberidze

Tutberidze, no doubt, is able to train athletes who show very high results, but recently more and more people are asking questions about the price of these achievements.

After the performance on February 17, two Russian figure skating stars immediately left the ice in tears.

Eteri Tutberidze prepared not only Valieva for the competition, but also other Russian figure skaters, including Anna Shcherbakova, who won first place in the individual tournament, and Alexandra Trusova, a silver medalist.

During the Olympic tournament, Tutberidze supported Valieva, on the footage of television broadcasts, the athlete was seen hugging her coach. In a biographical note about the 15-year-old figure skater, which was distributed at the Beijing Olympics, she calls Tutberidze her "hero". In an interview with Channel One last fall, she described the coach as follows: "Wise, brave, tall."

Before Valieva, Shcherbakova and Trusova, Tutberidze trained other famous Russian figure skaters, including the champion of the 2018 Games in Pyeongchang Alina Zagitova (she was then 15 years old), as well as the silver medalist of that Olympics Evgenia Medvedev (was 18 years old). In 2014, at the Sochi Games, another student of Tutberidze, 15-year-old Yulia Lipnitskaya, won a gold medal as part of the Russian team.

Since then, all these athletes have either stopped performing while still teenagers, or suspended their professional careers in sports.

Judging by what another medalist of these Games, who took second place in the women's tournament, Alexandra Trusova, said after the performance, she, too, may soon join the number of young Russian figure skaters who stop performing very quickly.

“I hate this sport! Hate him! I will never go out on the ice again! - said the skater in tears after the performance. She later clarified her words: “Today, of course, it was said on emotions. About the World Cup and beyond, of course, I will think and decide.

Valieva, Shcherbakova and Trusova are also known for the fact that they can perform quadruple jumps, which are considered the most difficult. Of all the skaters performing at the Beijing Olympics, only these three Russians did them.

What can the IOC do?

According to Bach, the IOC cannot seriously influence the environment of athletes.

“We understand that we have a limited set of tools to solve this problem,” the head of the IOC stressed. “We are not the police, we do not have the opportunity to conduct interrogations, there is no formal procedure for bringing to justice. And our sanctions are very limited. Ultimately, the question is that we need the support of the state authorities.”

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Bach, who became an Olympic fencing champion in 1976, said he couldn't even imagine what Valieva had to go through.

“Because I myself was once an athlete, I know something about what pressure is. But such pressure is hard even for me to imagine,” the head of the IOC said. - To see what difficulties she had on the ice, how she tried to get back together, how she tried to finish her program later ... In her every movement, in every second of her performance, one could see how stressed she was. Maybe she'd rather just get off the ice and try to put it all behind her."

However, it will not be possible to leave the events of the Olympics in the past for Valieva, as the anti-doping investigation against her continues. And questions about her future participation in the Olympics remain - especially given how the fate of her predecessors turned out.

“I can only wish her the support of her family, her friends and the people who will help her get through this incredibly difficult situation,” Bach concluded.

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