Russian teenager Kamila Valieva skated at the Beijing Olympics for the first time on Tuesday since the top sports judge gave her permission to participate despite failing a drug test, and burst into tears at the end of her performance. Wearing an off-the-shoulder purple dress, the 15-year-old was cheered by the crowd as she emerged to warm up on the ice for the women’s singles figure skating short program in which she is the gold favorite.
Valieva put in a clean performance but was emotional at the end of her routine.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled on Monday that she was allowed to continue at the Olympic Games, but that does not mean that the Russian has been acquitted of doping and that she can still be punished at a later date.
“The past few days have been very difficult for me,” Valieva told Russian television on the eve of the game.
“I’m happy, but at the same time emotionally tired.”
She began to cry, adding, “These are tears of happiness, but it also seems like sadness.”
The CAS ruling was celebrated in Russia but caused a furore elsewhere, with the United States Anti-Doping Agency accusing the country of “hijacking” the Beijing Olympics.
It also once again put the spotlight on doping by Russian athletes, who are banned from competing under their flag at the Games because of a state-sponsored doping program that culminated at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi.
The International Olympic Committee says there will be no medal ceremony in Beijing if Valieva finishes in the top three in singles when it finishes on Thursday – unprecedented in the history of the Games.
Valieva led Russia to team gold last week, before a lab in Stockholm reported that, as of December 25, she had failed a drug test for trimetazidine, which improves stamina.
Also, the medal ceremony for the team event will not take place.
In ruling that Valieva should not be suspended, the CAS said there were “exceptional circumstances”, including her age and the fact that it took six weeks to report her failed test.
Senior IOC member Denis Oswald told reporters in Beijing that Valieva informed her doping hearing that she tested positive for “contamination” of her grandfather’s drug.
Russian media said Valieva allegedly drank from the same glass her grandfather, who is taking medicine for a heart condition, had taken.
Whatever Gu can do
Nine gold medals were up for grabs in the Chinese capital on Tuesday.
Corinne Suter won the women’s downhill to confirm Switzerland’s dominance of alpine skiing.
Her win in the high-speed event followed Lara Gut-Behrami in the women’s super-G, while Beat Feuz won the men’s downhill at the start of the Games and Marco Odermatt took the men’s giant slalom.
Two-time gold medalist Mikaela Shiffrin, who has yet to medal in Beijing, was 18th as she warmed up for Thursday’s alpine combined event.
Defending champion Sofia Goggia of Italy took silver and capped off a remarkable return to form after injuring her knee in a crash last month.
Earlier in the day there was another Swiss winner in the form of Mathilde Gremaud in women’s freestyle slopestyle.
Gremaud triumphed ahead of California-born Chinese sensation Eileen Gu, the face of the Games and winner of the gold medal last week. Gu, 18, had to settle for silver.
Her Chinese teammate Su Yiming, who turns 18 later this week, now also has a silver and a gold after dominating the men’s snowboard Big Air to take the title before his third and final run.
In a touching moment, Su pointed to his parents as he stood on stage.
“I haven’t seen my parents for the past seven months because I went to Europe for training and a lot of places for competitions,” said Su, a film actor as a child.
“This moment is so special for me and for my family too.”
promoted
Austria’s Anna Gasser won a dramatic Big Air women’s snowboard gold to retain her title.
(This story was not edited by DailyExpertNews staff and was generated automatically from a syndicated feed.)
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