Russian Figure Skater tests positive for drugs - delays ceremony for team medals

[BittyBug]

So it sounds like they think that instead of being found “not at fault” and not punished, they think she should be found “at fault” and… not punished.

This feels like it’s some kind of strategy, but I don’t understand what they’re trying to achieve.

They're trying to look like they take doping seriously, which of course is .

 

[Theatregirl1122]

They're trying to look like they take doping seriously, which of course is .

As we all know, the way you take an offense seriously is by finding someone guilty and then doing nothing about it.

 

[Vagabond]

RUSADA is challenging its own committee's decision not to slap her wrist and is asking CAS to slap her wrist or whatever else CAS decides to do.

Is that how everyone else reads it?

No. RUSADA imposed a very mild penalty on Valieva. I very much doubt that they are asking the CAS to impose a more severe penalty that would strip her of her European Gold Medal or prevent Russia from receiving an Olympic Gold Medal in the Team Event.

 

[Karen-W]

No. RUSADA imposed a very mild penalty on Valieva. I very much doubt that they are asking the CAS to impose a more severe penalty that would strip her of her European Gold Medal or prevent Russia from receiving an Olympic Gold Medal in the Team Event.

Well, that's what they really want the outcome to be, but they are playing the PR game and trying to APPEAR that they taking doping violations seriously and that their administrators disagree with the slap on the wrist 1-day ban imposed by their own disciplinary committee.

 

[Dobre]

Oh, I think Russia takes doping very seriously. Seriously enough to have developed a whole program around the use of it & disguising the use of it.

 

[carriecmu0503]

That's why I would like to see. Give USA, Japan and Canada their medals. Plus, they need to go after Eteri and co.

This situation must be REALLY frustrating and sad for Keegan Messing should Canada end up being awarded team bronze! What a bummer he could not get to Beijing in time to skate a segment in the team event due to Covid regulations .

 

[coppertop1]

This situation must be REALLY frustrating and sad for Keegan Messing should Canada end up being awarded team bronze! What a bummer he could not get to Beijing in time to skate a segment in the team event due to Covid regulations .

Horrible luck for him, and poor Roman had to do both when he wasn't expected to even be in the Team Event, which threw him off for the Individual Event

 

[Sylvia]

Alexa Knierim just confirmed that "Tomorrow morning [8 am ET hour] we will be on the @todayshow spreading awareness on our Olympic medal situation. It is more than medals! #justice #olympics #medals #morethanmedals": https://www.instagram.com/p/CtztdcpOHfW/

More Than Medals: 500 Days and Counting (June 22, 2023) includes quotes from 8 of the 9 USA team event skaters:

More Than Medals: 500 Days and Counting - U.S. Figure Skating Fan Zone

It's more than medals.

usfigureskatingfanzone.com

There's a "Days Since Medal Ceremony" clock running on this page of USFS' website:

More Than Medals | U.S. Figure Skating

www.usfigureskating.org

This is what's behind the Friday, June 23rd feature on the Today Show

 

[caseyedwards]

The victim here is Valieva and the unrelenting psychological torture she is enduring is so cruel. Luckily she is very strong and is still near the top!!!

 

[carriecmu0503]

The victim here is Valieva and the unrelenting psychological torture she is enduring is so cruel. Luckily she is very strong and is still near the top!!!

Oh, please! Athletes know as soon as they start competing on the junior elite level, if not before, that they are responsible for every single thing they put into their body.

 

[coppertop1]

The victim here is Valieva and the unrelenting psychological torture she is enduring is so cruel. Luckily she is very strong and is still near the top!!!

Word to the wise: Melodrama and gaslight in aren't convincing tactics

 

[ChelleC]

The victim here is Valieva and the unrelenting psychological torture she is enduring is so cruel. Luckily she is very strong and is still near the top!!!

Total Russian BS which is typical of every single thing you post.

And how you can see Valieva to be the victim here and not see the American, Japanese, and Canadian teams as the victims here is beyond me.

If Valieva had not skated poorly in the individual free skate then we would be dealing with the same situation for those medals too.

The entire situation is beyond ridiculous and frankly if I ever see Valieva skate again internationally it'll be too soon.

 

[Dobre]

I assume she was a victim. Possibly a victim with a choice, but still a young person following the advice of adults who should have been role models guiding her to compete in a fair way.

That said, she could be speaking out now about how this really probably happened, helping to keep it from happening to many other young girls; but she is not. Maybe one day when she is out of the oppressive environment that she is functioning within we may hear a truer account of events. But regardless, she didn't compete via honest and fair competition. And that should mean no medal.

 

[coppertop1]

Valieva is the victim of a corrupt and abusive system, and right not she's being used and exploited. I don't think we can really expect her to see the truth until she's able to break free. And who knew when that will be. The problem is the same people who are telling her she's the victim are the same people who pit in this situation. She's a symptom of the problem

She does need to be disqualified as does the ROC from the Team Event. This is just another reason why Russia should stay banned

 

[caseyedwards]

Oh, please! Athletes know as soon as they start competing on the junior elite level, if not before, that they are responsible for every single thing they put into their body.

Only when they willingly do it. Not when they have been tied to a table and have it be forced down their throat!

 

[Karen-W]

Only when they willingly do it. Not when they have been tied to a table and have it be forced down their throat!

You really believe that she had to be tied down to a table and force-fed the drugs? I mean, if you believe that line of horse manure, then I'd be happy to show you some oceanfront property in Arizona that I've got for sale...

 

[tennellicious]

You really believe that she had to be tied down to a table and force-fed the drugs? I mean, if you believe that line of horse manure, then I'd be happy to show you some oceanfront property in Arizona that I've got for sale...

to be fair, it's Eteri. anything's possible. but she probably delegates the doping admin to one of her assistants, probably the older guy who looks like a troll

 

[MacMadame]

Valieva is the victim of a corrupt and abusive system, and right not she's being used and exploited. I don't think we can really expect her to see the truth until she's able to break free. And who knew when that will be. The problem is the same people who are telling her she's the victim are the same people who pit in this situation. She's a symptom of the problem

It's quite possible that she is a willing participant in this. I mean she was raised up in that system so it's quite likely that she has the values that she was raised to have which means she approves of what her team did, thinks everyone cheats and her crime was only in being caught and possibly even that other people were caught but it was hidden by the evil West who is just out to get her. And

 

[Alilou]

A while back I watched the 3-part documentary called running For My Truth about Alex Schwazer (sp) who for a time was Carolina Kostner's boyfriend and she lied for him about his whereabouts when he missed a drug test (or s'thing like that). Anyway one thing that has stuck in my memory from that doc was him asking his Russian counterpart at a competition why the Russians won everything all the time and the Russian, straight faced, and with no attempt to hide anything replied: training, vitamins, and doping.

 

[coppertop1]

It's quite possible that she is a willing participant in this. I mean she was raised up in that system so it's quite likely that she has the values that she was raised to have which means she approves of what her team did, thinks everyone cheats and her crime was only in being caught and possibly even that other people were caught but it was hidden by the evil West who is just out to get her. And

It definitely seems like so many of them are indoctrinated. They then go in to pass it onto the next generation etc. Liza seems to be one of the few who doesn't seem to be swallowing the rhetoric as much

 

[tony]

Horrible luck for him, and poor Roman had to do both when he wasn't expected to even be in the Team Event, which threw him off for the Individual Event

Nothing to really contribute to the thread, but this is shades of Josee in 1994 all over again for me. Roman was either going to skate a perfect program or completely bomb the individual SP, and we all know what was more likely. I don’t think it threw him off one bit considering he has no consistency.

 

[coppertop1]

Nothing to really contribute to the thread, but this is shades of Josee in 1994 all over again for me. Roman was either going to skate a perfect program or completely bomb the individual SP, and we all know what was more likely. I don’t think it threw him off one bit considering he has no consistency.

True. He is an all or nothing skater, also much like Sandhu. I think he might have done better in the short if not from the drama of team event because he would have been able to rest and not rushed into the spotlight but who knows?

 

[reut]

https://twitter.com/TODAYshow/status/1672220549223784449

 

[Sylvia]

Also:

Exclusive: US Olympic figure skaters won in Beijing. 500 days later, they still don’t have their medals

Olympians Alexa Knierim, Brandon Frazier and Vincent Zhou spoke with TODAY about the controversy surrounding their medals.

www.today.com

 

[ross_hy]

Great job by Alexa, Brandon, and Vincent this morning. Hopefully this will help keep up awareness with the general public.

 

[jamesy]

The victim here is Valieva and the unrelenting psychological torture she is enduring is so cruel. Luckily she is very strong and is still near the top!!!

She was just thirsty!!!

 

[Sylvia]

Anti-Doping Podcast episode (published June 20) - link comes from this tweet: https://twitter.com/PCCantidoping/status/1671162549218443277
https://cleancompetition.org/2023/0...-the-2022-games-evan-bates-and-madison-chock/

ETA that the topic of doping (first at the 2014 Olympics & then their 2022 Olympics experience and aftermath) begins at the 16-minute mark and goes to just after 32 mins. Evan mentions ~36 mins. that Team USA's 9 empty medal boxes are on display at the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Museum "right now."

Today USFS shared a photo & 2 clips of the empty medal boxes being prepared for display at the USOPC museum in Colorado Springs: https://www.instagram.com/p/Ct1nelYAZP_/
Full video (June 23): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6aXPHYV6TpU

Take a look behind the scenes at what went into the building of the #morethanmedals display at the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Museum. The display will be up for the next year in Colorado Spring, CO.

And Vincent posted this message after his Today Show appearance: https://www.instagram.com/p/Ct1Xd1YrD3_/

It’s been 500 days since the medal ceremony for the 2022 Olympic Winter Games Figure Skating Team Event was supposed to take place, and still we wait. What should have been a black-and-white case about athletic integrity and fair competition has turned into a complex legal case that has dragged on for far too long, and us clean athletes are the ones paying the price for it. We want transparency, we want accountability, and we want integrity in the system that is supposed to uphold the principles upon which the Olympic Games were founded.

I am calling upon the IOC, RUSADA, and WADA to do everything in their legal power to ensure an appropriate outcome in the September 26-29 hearing under CAS. I am also calling upon @isufigureskating, @skate_canada, and the JSF to take a public stand alongside us to advocate for clean sport and for a fair outcome such that clean athletes are not punished for the wrongdoings of athletes that dope.

To mark this 500 day anti-milestone and bring awareness to this situation, we Team Event athletes have given our empty medal boxes to the US Olympic & Paralympic Museum in Colorado Springs, CO, for a special display set which you can see in the photos in this post or by visiting in person. Thank you for reading this far, and for your support.

 

[Sylvia]

Associated Press article by Eddie Pells:

Olympic skaters still missing medals 500 days later

On display at the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Museum are nine empty boxes that should be holding medals.

apnews.com

The Americans aren’t the only people wronged in this affair. The Japanese team that finished third never received medals and the Canadian team that finished fourth could be due for them, as well, if Russia is disqualified. There’s also the case of Valieva, who was 15 at the time of the Olympics and is widely seen as an unwitting victim whose health and fitness, to say nothing of her medical needs and prescriptions, were in the hands of coaches and handlers in her circle.
When Tracy Marek began as CEO of U.S. Figure Skating in January, the still-unresolved medals case was at the top of her in-box.
“In my opinion, the common American out there would be shocked right now,” Marek said. “In retrospect, they might say, ‘Oh, yeah, I remember that.’ But they would probably be shocked to know that these athletes have achieved one of sports’ greatest accomplishments and they’ve received an empty box.”

Bates and Chock recalled the emotional meeting they had with Bach, the leader of the International Olympic Committee, the day after their ceremony had been canceled. They still have the Olympic torches he offered them as a goodwill gesture while the medals were sorted out.
“He assured us that when this was resolved, they would do everything to create a medals ceremony that suited our expectations,” Bates said. “To which we said, ‘Well, we would like it yesterday.’” [...]
“If I could change anything about the antidoping movement, it would be, just improve the transparency and improve the time frame,” Bates said. “The shelf life for an Olympic athlete is short. We think in four-year cycles and it’s almost been two years. It’s such a shame this moment hasn’t taken place and there’s still no closure or resolution to this so many months later.”

 

[coppertop1]

Torches as a goodwill gesture. What a joke. Bach is so weak. This entire mess is partly on him for repeatedly being lenient with Russia.

Vincent, Alexa and Brandon on the Today Show

 

[caseyedwards]

This is not leniency. This is horrific nastiness and anti Russia hysteria