Valieva misses podium in Beijing

Russian teenage figure skater Kamila Valieva tumbled to fourth place in the women’s singles event, yielding to the pressure of a doping controversy that has rocked the Beijing Olympic Games.

In a final twist that ensures a medal ceremony will go ahead today, Valieva’s compatriots Anna Shcherbakova claimed the gold medal and Alexandra Trusova took the silver, while a beaming Kaori Sakamoto of Japan claimed the bronze medal.

After stumbling to the ice more than once, 15-year-old Valieva gave one last forced smile to the judges and masked her face with her hand as she skated head down towards the exit with her supporters shouting “Molodets!” “Molodets!” (Bravo, bravo).

The skating prodigy, favourite for gold ahead of the Games, had been hoping to shut out the noise of a doping scandal after testing positive for a banned substance in late December, news of which only broke on Feb. 8 – a day after she helped the Russian Olympic Committee win the team competition.

Decked out in a sparkling black and red dress and bright red gloves, she kept her composure for 30 seconds and landed her opening quadruple Salchow jump.

But she then faltered after a triple Axel and made a number of uncharacteristic stumbles after that in a free skate routine set to Maurice Ravel’s “Bolero”.

After coming to a stop, she threw one hand forward in open frustration at a performance that was nowhere near her usual high standards, and ended almost 50 points below her own world record score on 224.09.

Shcherbakova claimed gold with a total score of 255.95 ahead of Trusova on 251.73. Japan’s Sakamoto scored 233.13.

In the stands, loud cheers and applause had greeted Valieva’s arrival on the ice, and her fans chanted her name after her stumble – while the camera shutters went into overdrive.

Valieva was left sobbing in the “kiss and cry” area after her performance, while her coach Eteri Tutberidze, who also trains Shcherbakova and Trusova, underlined the pressure the teenage skaters are under.

Valieva tested positive for a banned heart drug after the national championships on Dec. 25 but the result was not revealed until Feb. 8. She was eventually cleared to compete in the women’s single event by the Court of Arbitration for Sport on Monday.

Photo: PHOTOSPORT

Valieva is one of the youngest athletes to have a positive test revealed at the Olympics, prompting questions about the role of the adults around her and the continuing scourge of Russian doping in international sport.

It has also fueled a debate over raising the age limit for figure skating.

In other Olympic news….

Canada turned four years of bitter disappointment into triumph, downing arch-rivals the United States 3-2 to win the women’s ice hockey final and reclaim the gold medal the Americans took from them in Pyeongchang.

Japanese speed skater Miho Takagi finally clinched a gold medal after winning three silvers at the Beijing Olympics, as fans breathed a sigh of relief that she would end the Winter Games on a high.

After coming up just short in the 1,500m, the 500m and the team pursuit, she secured the elusive top spot on the podium as she sailed to victory in the women’s 1,000 metres.

-Reuters