Victoria Mundell / Edge columnist
Kamila Valieva, Russian ice skater, unravelled during her free skate program on February 17, following weeks of pressure regarding a doping scandal, according to article by Andrea Janus “Disastrous free skate keeps Kamila Valieva out of Olympic Medal Position.”
After previously dominating in the 2022 European figure skating championship held from January 10 to 16, in Tallinn, Estonia and debuting in the women’s Olympic figure skating competition with a high scoring short program, Valieva was positioned as the top contender for this year’s gold medal.
Valieva fell apart during her final performance, landing in fourth place with a score of 141.93 for a total of 224.09.
This loss after an almost guaranteed win was the result of the authority figures in Valieva’s life failing to protect her.
Eteri Tutberidze, an accomplished figure skating coach and coach to Valieva, is known for her intense methods and harsh training styles as reported by Eurosport “Who is Kamila Valieva’s Coach Eteri Tutberidze? What Happened to her Former Athletes?”
If anyone is responsible for Valieva’s doping and subsequent collapse in her final performance, it’s Tutberidze and the other members of her team.
Valieva is in a vulnerable position as a young elite athlete claims study “Lifetime Prevalence of Verbal, Physical, and Sexual Abuses in Young Elite Athletics Athletes,” she needs to be able to trust her team to have her best interests in mind, affirms article by Rachel Nuwer “Coaching Can Make or Break an Olympic Athlete”. It was irresponsible of the adults in Valieva’s life to have enabled the use of a performance enhancing drug, and it was unethical of them to have participated in an environment where the pressure to perform called for such a drug.
Tutberidze was not alone in letting Valieva down during these events. The Court of Arbitration of Sports, the disciplinary committee managing Valieva’s case, acted with negligence when overruling Valieva’s initial suspension for competing. To allow a contestant using drugs to compete not only showed a lack of regard for the rules but a lack of regard for the skaters competing clean.
Former skater and now coach Adam Rippon described this leniency on Twitter @AdamRippon as “A slap in the face to every athlete who plays by the rules.”
Although it might have been difficult for Valieva to grieve the loss of this opportunity, the suspension would not have caused “irreparable damage” as the CAS claimed it would; in fact, it may have made the situation easier for the skater to handle.
Instead of facing the media’s outrage concerning her continued participation, she could have been disciplined accordingly and gone home to train for a second shot in the next competition, avoiding the emotional turmoil Valieva spoke of with Russia’s Channel One on February 13, and eventual stress induced break during her last performance.
Valieva could have been this year’s Olympic gold medalist if supported by the appropriate training, and had she not been cleared to participate, she could have left unbroken by this experience and driven for the next winter Olympics.
Sources:
Coaching can Make or Break an Olympic Athlete
Russia’s Kamila Valieva takes to Olympic ice once more amid doping scandal
Disastrous free skate keeps Kamila Valieva out of Olympic Medal Position
Lifetime Prevalence of Verbal, Physical, and Sexual Abuses in Young Elite Athletics Athletes
Who is Kamila Valieva’s Coach Eteri Tutberidze? What Happened to her Former Athletes?