What exactly happened with figure skating in Bejing?

While it may be hard to believe, the 2022 Winter Olympics are currently ongoing. 

For me, I love the Olympics; watching all these people compete to be the best in is always so entertaining. Albeit, I do prefer the Summer Olympics over winter, I will still watch mostly to see figure skating. 

I have to be honest, with the start of the semester happening almost at the same time as the Olympics, I have only really heard of the event, not watched it. 

What has been at the forefront of these games is 15-year-old Russian skater Kamila Valieva. Valieva is known for breaking records and being an excellent figure skater set to take gold. 

It came to fruition that Valieva tested positive for doping, which, as one would assume, for the Olympics is illegal. This normally would cause an instant ban from the games; however, this case is unique. 

As mentioned earlier, Valieva is quite young. It would be assumed that she did not voluntarily take these performance-enhancing drugs; the blame would fall on her coach, Eteri Tutberidze. 

The Olympic committee went to trial to discuss whether or not they would allow Valieva to compete. It was decided that she would be able to compete, but if she placed there would be no ceremony to celebrate her (what was assumed to be) gold medal victory. 

This caused an uproar. When I read that they were allowing her to compete I was appalled. Remember Sha’Carri Richardson? The American track star banned from competing in the most recent Summer Olympics due to her having marijuana in her system. How is doping, which in my opinion is much worse, allowed while a little bit of weed gets athletes banned?

I believe there are many factors that went into this decision in allowing her to compete. First, it is pretty evident the tensions that are currently ongoing between Russia and Ukraine. 

Do I believe that if Valieva was banned from skating Putin would instantly invade Ukraine right after the news came out? No, but it definitely would cause more tension putting Russia against the world. 

The main deciding factor I believe in allowing Valieva to compete is her age. In no way am I placing the blame of this situation on Valieva, she is a 15-year-old who likely is not in control. Russian athletes go through so much abuse from their coaches in order to be the best that they can be, it is most times never their fault.

Adam Ripon, former U.S. figure skater, said it best in a series of tweets that he posted on Feb. 11. The tweets read “This entire situation is heartbreaking. This young girl is just 15. She’s a minor. The adults around her have completely failed her. They’ve put her in this awful situation and should be punished…they put her sports performance ahead of her health and well-being. Fuck them. They’ve ruined this Olympic experience for HER and for EVERYONE here.” 

It seemed that everyone would be watching the female free skate to see how the events would go down. Valieva, with a straight, emotionless face, left night one with the highest score and on top. On night two, the pressure cooker exploded and Valieva cracked under all of it. 

In her routine, she fell four times, which is very unlike her. Through all of these mishaps in her final routine, she ended overall fourth in the competition. 

This Olympics sure will be one to remember, especially with this scandal. I fear for Valieva and the repercussions she may receive from not performing her best on the Olympic stage, but only time will tell the aftermath of this scandal. 

It seems like lately entire sporting organizations are crumbling. We saw it in the Summer Olympics with gymnastics, and now we are seeing it here with figure skating. It is time for these games to re-evaulate how they treat these athletes, and put their health first for once.