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

[Lemonade20]

Perhaps IOC/ISU would prefer not to give ROC the photo opportunity of Russian athletes atop the podium?

So how does punishing silver & bronze medallists seem better than this?

 

[giselle23]

Russia may want to resolve this sooner while the sympathy for Valieva is still fresh and she is still under 16? But, I'm not betting on it being resolved by Worlds.

The best solution would be for Kamila to accept a reprimand now and go on with her life. But I don't think that can happen unless there is a way to avoid reallocating the team medals.

 

[giselle23]

Just a hypothetical question that could affect the fallout of the situation. If Kamila’s grandfather claimed he got TMZ at a pharmacy without a prescription, doesn’t that mean, in theory, Kamila could have gotten the drug on her own without the involvement of Eteri and the team doctor?

Obviously, I highly doubt she or a family member went to the Russian equivalent of CVS and got this drug so she could take it for competitive advantage. But in terms of taking down Eteri and the doctor, could they feasibly claim this as a possibility to deflect blame from themselves. If you don’t need a prescription for TMZ, then it opens a lot more possibilities for how she feasibly got it. They could claim a tiger parent situation where the family wanted to do everything they could to ensure she wins.

Now that the Olympics are over and Kamila did not win, I wouldn’t put it past Eteri and co to throw her to the wolves in an effort to keep their jobs and status.

According to the CAS decision, a prescription is needed for TMZ. I'm not sure if it was in the panel's actual ruling or one of the cases stated by the appellants. I didn't see anyone contradicting it.

 

[Nadya]

That's bs. I (adult) skated with some young women who wore hijabs. Plus I know several left-wing LGBTQ feminist Muslim women (who generally do not wear hijabs or dress "modestly" but are still observant) who would most certainly be happy to have figure skating daughters.

Define “observant Muslim”.

 

[Rob]

It’s on Instagram that Valieva is already back at practice in Russia.

She’s thinking she will go to Worlds I guess.

 

[caseyedwards]

It’s on Instagram that Valieva is already back at practice in Russia.

Good for her! Keep on the moving forward!

 

[Cherub721]

Kamila was also at a concert today https://www.instagram.com/reel/CaNbAYboUve/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

 

[Allskate]

Obviously, I highly doubt she or a family member went to the Russian equivalent of CVS and got this drug so she could take it for competitive advantage. But in terms of taking down Eteri and the doctor, could they feasibly claim this as a possibility to deflect blame from themselves. If you don’t need a prescription for TMZ, then it opens a lot more possibilities for how she feasibly got it. They could claim a tiger parent situation where the family wanted to do everything they could to ensure she wins.

I suspect that Grandpa having TMZ may be the attempt to avoid Eteri and skating/sporting officials being held responsible. No way do I buy the contaminated glass or dish story.

 

[YourBorneo]

So how does punishing silver & bronze medallists seem better than this?

I am not defending their decision. I’m just saying IOC/ISU level of anger over CAS decision could have resulted in the level of pettiness by which depriving ROC photo op is valued above what USA & JPN so justly deserve.

 

[hanca]

If S/H didn't go for the quad twist, they would've lost the gold to T/M.
Rooting for a Russian pairs podium sweep in Milan 2026.

I wouldn’t be so sure. By then, Miura/Kihara and Safina/Berulava could fight for the medals.

 

[Karen-W]

I wouldn’t be so sure. By then, Miura/Kihara and Safina/Berulava could fight for the medals.

I'd also include LuMit in that mix - provided they can find some personality in their skating (same can be said for SafBeru, to be honest, though).

 

[caseyedwards]

I wouldn’t be so sure. By then, Miura/Kihara and Safina/Berulava could fight for the medals.

Canadian and American fs skating establishments will push very hard against any Russian success! If there isn’t a Canadian pair they will pick a new Chinese pair or that Japanese pair. I wouldn’t bet on a Russian pair. They don’t have much luck winning Olympics anymore

 

[hanca]

Canadian and American fs skating establishments will push very hard against any Russian success! If there isn’t a Canadian pair they will pick a new Chinese pair or that Japanese pair. I wouldn’t bet on a Russian pair. They don’t have much luck winning Olympics anymore

If the Russian pairs skate clean, there would be nothing Canadian and American federation can do about it.

 

[caseyedwards]

If the Russian pairs skate clean, there would be nothing Canadian and American federation can do about it.

All their judges could mark them lower than current top Chinese or Japanese team

 

[Sylvia]

I'm proud to read how Bates, Hubbell and Donohue were able to share their concerns about the sport of figure skating with Thomas Bach and have made it clear -- Zhou too -- that this is about more than just their silver medals.

Washington Post article by Les Carpenter: https://www.washingtonpost.com/spor...0/us-figure-skaters-team-event-medals-doping/

BEIJING — Their plight had become one of the biggest stories of the Olympics, and in the hours before the Closing Ceremonies, the United States figure skaters who had yet to receive their team event silver medals would not depart quietly Sunday afternoon.
“It’s extremely disheartening to leave the Games empty-handed,” ice dance skater Evan Bates said as he stood in a hall beneath the Capital Indoor Stadium stands.
The night before, Bates had been locked in his room at the Athletes’ Village, testifying by video to an ad hoc panel from the Court of Arbitration for Sport, one final chance for him — as the U.S. figure skating team captain — to force the International Olympic Committee to give the nine-member team its medals. But sometime just before midnight Saturday, he learned that CAS had sided with the IOC’s decision to hold off giving medals until its inquiry into Russian skater Kamila Valieva’s positive doping test is complete.

“My hope is that this is not taken as pressure around a medal,” said Zachary Donohue, another ice dancer. “There is going to be a medal at some point; that’s not my concern … There needs to be more decisive action taking against any kind of doping issue and protecting the integrity of the sport.”
Or as Bates said: “There are multiple things at play with the medal ceremony and then the bigger picture.”
Asked what those things are, he replied: “What’s been plaguing our sport for the last however many years.” [...]
“This is an opportunity for this sport to take strides and it would be a shame if it gets buried under the rug,” Donohue said. “One of the main points [is] to put pressure [on the IOC], like: The world is watching, and we have a chance to stand for something more than just one Games, but for the future of the integrity of the sport.”

“Obviously, it’s a much bigger issue than [getting] a medal or not,” Zhou said. “That’s only a surface-level token of the circumstances. The bigger picture is obviously clean sport and the importance of clean competition”
Asked if he thought the U.S. team’s stand would create a positive change, he nodded.
“I would hope so,” he said. “I would hope all of this, including the media firestorm … that the bigger picture is everyone can see the importance of clean sport and fair competition.”

Last Tuesday night, Bach met the U.S. skaters in a media interview room at the Athletes’ Village. They sat in chairs arranged in a circle, two of the Americans said. The conversation lasted for an hour and 40 minutes, with many of the U.S. skaters making impassioned points about how they were being punished for someone else’s positive test and about what they see as failures in the way doping is policed.
“Emotions are running high, and it was great he allowed us to say exactly what we were feeling and I can say from my own personal standpoint I didn’t hold back,” Donohue’s partner Madison Hubbell said. “It’s a tough conversation to have, and so I absolutely felt like he was listening.”
She said Bach promised the U.S. skaters he would “make the [medal] ceremony of our dreams, whatever those might be.”
Bates described what Bach offered as “a dignified medal ceremony.”

But late Sunday afternoon it was clear they had found something else: a voice. So they kept talking.
“I think it’s going to take awhile to get over this,” Bates said, his voice starting to crack. “And when we do get our medals, I’m not sure that will sufficiently cure the hurt that’s been caused to all the clean athletes who didn’t get their medal moment.”

 

[hanca]

All their judges could mark them lower than current top Chinese or Japanese team

There are no Chinese pairs coming through. Sui/Han will very likely retire. Peng/Jin are quite inconsistent and I really can’t see them beating Russian pairs. And as far as I know, there were no juniors that looked like a threat at junior level. Do you have any concrete junior pair in mind, or are you hoping that some will suddenly appear out of the blue? Re:Japanese team, as per my post, I do believe they could easily fight for the medals. They have something that makes them very watchable.

 

[Vagabond]

There might not be any Russian Pairs competing in 2026.

 

[PRlady]

I'm proud to read how Bates, Hubbell and Donohue were able to share their concerns about the sport of figure skating with Thomas Bach and have made it clear -- Zhou too -- that this is about more than just their silver medals.

Washington Post article by Les Carpenter: https://www.washingtonpost.com/spor...0/us-figure-skaters-team-event-medals-doping/

At first I thought it was just H/D swinging hard because (like me giving boss hell last week) they’re retiring. But then I read Evan’s and Vincent’s quotes and I feel particularly sorry for them. At least Vincent (and K/F) has his 2018 TE medal, Chock/Bates got no medal ceremony at all after finishing in the most hurtful place of all.

There might not be any Russian Pairs competing in 2026.

Which if they are clean themselves is a damn shame. But I can’t figure out anything that will stop this crap other than a complete ban on Russian participation in both the Olys and preferably ISU events for a good long time.

 

[Wyliefan]

I wonder how quickly I could adopt Pavliuchenko and Khodykin ...

 

[Sylvia]

At first I thought it was just H/D swinging hard because (like me giving boss hell last week) they’re retiring. But then I read Evan’s and Vincent’s quotes and I feel particularly sorry for them. At least Vincent (and K/F) has his 2018 TE medal

Chock/Bates, Vincent Zhou, Brandon Frazier and Karen Chen are the USA team members who haven't experienced an Olympic medal ceremony and Zhou didn't even get to participate in either the flower/panda presentation OR closing ceremony.

 

[Dobre]

Bates, Hubbell and Donohue were able to share their concerns -- Zhou too

Well said by all of them.

 

[skatingguy]

At least Vincent has his 2018 TE medal.

Yeah, Vincent wasn't part of the team event in 2018 - it was Nathan Chen, and Adam Rippon.

 

[BittyBug]

Zhou didn't even get to participate in either the flower/panda presentation OR closing ceremony.

Why didn't Zhou get to go to the closing ceremony given that he was there for the gala? NM. I just saw the news in the OWG thread. SMH.

 

[hanca]

There might not be any Russian Pairs competing in 2026.

The same way you can say that there may not be any Olympics at all in 2026, if Russia starts a war and it grows into world war three. Or if the Covid get worse…

 

[hanca]

I wonder how quickly I could adopt Pavliuchenko and Khodykin ...

I would love to adopt the Russian junior pairs. There are about four or five that look so good for the future!

 

[Vagabond]

The same way you can say that there may not be any Olympics at all in 2026, if Russia starts a war and it grows into world war three. Or if the Covid get worse…

Not in the same way. The IOC can't ban war or you-know-what. It can ban Russia.

 

[hanca]

They can, but how likely that is going to happen?

 

[Lemonade20]

I am not defending their decision. I’m just saying IOC/ISU level of anger over CAS decision could have resulted in the level of pettiness by which depriving ROC photo op is valued above what USA & JPN so justly deserve.

That's a good point

 

[Allskate]

Bach may have promised the American team skater the medal ceremonies of their dreams, but he can't deliver that. Their dreams were to stand on a podium at the Olympics alongside clean athletes.

This is one of the reasons I find it so frustrating that there has been so much focus on the harm to Valieva. There is harm to others and to the sport.

 

[overedge]

This is Evan Bates' fourth Olympics. If he is POed enough to speak out like this, things are very bad.