Olympic drama is not over even a year later

Figure skater Kamila Valiyeva’s story made headlines during the Beijing Olympics. To this day there has been no peace.

Kamila Valiyeva will remember February 17, 2022 well. That Thursday, the young Russian stood on the ice in the Beijing Hallenstadion, and she also sat for a short time, because the only 15-year-old Russian fell several times during her freestyle. The immense pressure that weighed on her was just too much. The gold favorite in women’s figure skating finished fourth and burst into tears.

The fact that Valiewa competed at all surprised many viewers of the Olympic Games. After all, a few days earlier, the results of a doping test on December 25, 2021 had become public. The result: positive. The heart drug trimetazidine was found in Valiyeva’s blood. The banned substance is on the doping list because it improves the heart’s performance and delays its fatigue.

A few days earlier, Valiewa had won gold in the team competition, but the award ceremony was postponed due to the findings. To this day, a year later, it is still not clear who will get the medals. Despite this, Kamila Valiyeva has since become a star in her country.

At that time, the young figure skater was suspended for the individual competition, which the international sports court Cas lifted a short time later. Valiewa was allowed to start – and did so. Probably also under pressure from Eteri Tutberidse, her trainer. It was also Tutberidze who was sharply criticized following the tragic freestyle with several falls. Because while 15-year-old Valiewa cried next to her, the trainer initially remained ice cold and stared at the score.

Eteri Tutberidze is considered a tough coach. (Quelle: IMAGO/Dmitry Golubovich)

“This is unbearable”

Katarina Witt, former figure skater and ARD expert on this day, mightn’t hold back her tears during the live broadcast: “It’s unbearable. You don’t even look anymore who is first, second or third. She’s fourth, it doesn’t really matter. What happened was exactly what should have been protected from. She’s 15, she’s just a kid. I’m sorry. You see her sitting there collapsing.”

Witt had no understanding for the behavior of Tutberidze’s coaching team: “Some mom should have taken her out and put her on the plane (home, editor’s note). Three months away. Away from all this hustle and bustle before this whole tsunami broke in on her. (…) I don’t know if we’ll ever see this talent, this 15-year-old girl once more. I might go crazy. It’s so irresponsible what has been done here.”

Valiewa herself might not explain the positive doping test. Her lawyers said she came into contact with the drug through a glass. Valiyeva’s grandfather takes trimetazidine and drank from the same cup as her. Doubts quickly arose regarding the story. The German pharmacologist and doping expert Fritz Sörgel told the German Press Agency: “The amount for a positive doping test cannot get into the body through saliva on a glass rim.”

The experts also doubted that the 15-year-old had knowingly doped. They targeted the Russian government much more, because it has been known at least since the Olympic Games in Vancouver in 2010 that state doping takes place systematically in Russia.

What happened following the Olympics?

Despite the allegations, Valiyeva was celebrated on her return from Beijing. At the airport, fans were waiting for the young figure skater with flowers. In Russia, parts of the population saw the positive doping test as a kind of conspiracy to defame the great talent.

At a Moscow airport in February 2022, fans wait with posters for Valiyeva. (Those: Vladimir Gerdo via www.imago-images.de)

In the weeks that followed, Valiyeva became quieter. This was also due to the fact that just a few days following the figure skating final, Russia attacked Ukraine. Putin’s war overshadowed the events in Beijing.