Skating sensation Kamila Valieva and the Russians find themselves at the crux of another Olympics mess

Opinion

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This article was published 09/02/2022 (1333 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

BEIJING They soared to gold. They may crash in ignominy. But at the moment Russia’s figure skaters are in limbo.

If, that is, theirs is the federation which has thrown a spanner in the works of the already concluded team event where not-Russia — the Russian Olympic Committee their designated handle at these Winter Games — grabbed Olympic laurels on Monday.

Just pseudo laurels, the gold-wreathed stuffed pandas that are awarded to podium finishers at the venues, with formal medal presentations later on. That was supposed to happen on Tuesday but was cancelled, though few professional scrutineers — that would be us, journalists — even noticed. It was only a brief comment by an International Olympic Committee spokesperson at Wednesday’s routine press conference that perked up ears.

An ongoing legal issue had arisen, said Mark Adams, mystifyingly, requiring “legal consultation’’ with figure skating’s governing body, and the outcome might affect medallists in the team event. When that competition ended Monday, Russia had overtaken the United States — leading after the first day, way back on Friday, held hours before the opening ceremonies at Bird’s Nest stadium — with a score of 74 points. The U.S. took silver with 65 points and Japan edged Canada with 63 points for bronze.

“We have athletes that have won medals involved,’’ Adams said at the daily news briefing.

A subsequent one-line statement from the International Skating Union also cited ongoing legal discussions.

A doping shakeup in the medal bracket could mean Team Canada vaulting onto a podium.

Everything, however, was clear as mud Wednesday evening, even as the IOC had said it hoped to provide an update by end of day.

But the Beijing buzz — and, to stress, nothing has been confirmed — had Russia as the culprit and doping the crisis. Which would be either not surprising for a chronic drug perp or head-smack stunning for repeat stupidity. insidethegames.biz, an Olympic-focused publication, was the first to report that Russia was believed to be at the centre of the controversy and the problem arising from a drugs test conducted before the Olympics.

A couple of hours later, USA Today’s Christine Brennan, quoting an anonymous source, also reported that a positive drug test by a member of the Russian squad was the issue.

As speculation mounted that Russia’s gold — won by the country’s six involved skaters — was at risk, reporters approached the Kremlin for comment. “Let’s, for the sake of understanding, wait for some explanations either from our sports officials or from the IOC,’’ pleaded Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov.

If any athlete or team were to be disqualified, a Hail Mary appeal would likely be made to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which might not deliver a hasty decision. And several skaters who participated in the event will soon be on their way home, after Thursday’s men’s short competition, should they not qualify for the following free skate.

In any event, those Russians — again, if they’re at the crux of this mess — would not be departing with their gold medals, if there’s no quick resolution. And of course, they don’t even have them yet.

In the middle of the night, insidethegames.biz reported that an anti-doping test taken by Russian’s 15-year-old sensation Kamila Valieva – she of the first quadruple jump landed by a female at the Olympics, just days ago, a brace of them in fact – is the reason behind the medal ceremony being “delayed.”

The exact nature of the issue with Valieva is still unclear but claims are circulating that the drug under question is not performance-enhancing. Dispatches out of Russia suggest the drug involved is trimetazidine, a medicine usually used to prevent angina attacks and help blood flow to the heart. Though why a 15-year-old would be taking it is an obvious question.

A further complication – and perhaps why Valieva has not yet been publicly identified by the IOC in this matter – is because, under rules of the World Anti-Doping Code, she is a “Protected Person.” To wit: As “an athlete who at the time of the anti-doping rule violation has not reached the age of 16,” he or she can’t be identified if guilty of an anti-doping violation.

Ergo, all the legal wrangling.

Even more unclear is whether, if all this is confirmed, Valieva would be able to compete in the upcoming women’s competition.

Figure skating is arguably the most glittery marquee sport in Russia, where the nation boasts its largest accumulation of Olympic medals over the last century-plus — over years when it formally competed as the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union, the Unified Team, Russia, Olympic Athletes from Russia and now, its latest iteration, Russian Olympic Committee. It has swept the podium at the Winter Games in women’s, pairs and ice dance. For Beijing, it’s the only delegation to have brought a full roster of skaters, qualified three entries in each of the four disciplines.

But the country is still under a cloud from the doping scandal of the Sochi Games, revelations that only surfaced two years after the host country topped the medals table in 2014 — 33, including 13 gold — and had taken all its bows after the host country topped the medals table in 2014. An investigation by WADA uncovered what it said was a vast state-run doping program that provided athletes with performance-enhancing substances. Thirteen medals were stripped away from Russian athletes, with nine later returned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport because of insufficient evidence. That McLaren report disclosed that upwards of a 1,000 Russians athletes had profited from the stage-sponsored doping scheme.

Russia has always denied the findings.

In December 2019, WADA levied a four-year ban on international competition against Russia, later reduced to two years. Qualified athletes were still able to compete but not under the Russian flag, and no Russian insignias were to be permitted, which many decried as limp punishment. The ban extends to these Games — hence the ROC abbreviation. They’re not even permitted national tattoos or national tricolours in the women’s nail polish.

Ice dancer Nikita Katsalapov, reigning world champion with partner Victoria Sinitsina, shrugged off the no-flag no-anthem restrictions after Russia’s team event victory.

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“It’s not the first time our country appears without the flag,’’ he told reporters. “But the flag is inside of us. We’re very patriotic and we value our homeland very much.’’

In that team event, Team Canada — defending gold medallists, albeit with a vastly different cast of skaters from Pyeongchang — barely qualified for the free skate finals, only reaching that stage of the competition on the masterful short and long program execution of Olympic rookie Madeline Schizas in the women’s event.

The 18-year-old from Oakville finished third in both phases, smashing her personal best, and elevating Canada ahead of China into fourth spot, with 53 points.

Might be third and bronze when this is all sorted out.

Rosie DiManno is a Toronto-based columnist covering sports and current affairs for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @rdimanno