In a chaotic week marked by a positive doping test, the 15-year-old Russian teenager, a skating prodigy already titled as a team at these Olympic Games, was able to remobilize to win the women’s short program.
Adolescence is no longer what it was in the glittering world of figure skating. She now resists everything. And even beyond. At the Beijing Games, a young Russian of only 15 years old, Kamila Valieva, has occupied all the conversations for almost a week. She settled in spite of herself at the head of the most publicized subjects of the Olympic bubble, for having tested positive for a banned drug, at the end of December in Russia. Then, above all, for having been authorized to compete in its competition, the individual event, by the three judges of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
Tuesday evening, the young Russian skated. Finally. On the menu, the short program, the first of the two events of the competition. Just under three minutes on the ice. Three times nothing, on the scale of the Games. But this first outing on skates since the start of the “Valieva affair” filled all the bays of the press gallery at the Capitol National Stadium in Beijing. For the media, it had to be. Closer. Be there to see her, the Kamila. And see firsthand what effect such a media outburst might have had on a young girl.
Earlier in the day, the skater had assured a Russian channel, Channel One, that she was relieved to be able to participate, but felt “emotionally tired”. We would be less. The IOC, for its part, had let one of its members, the Swiss Denis Oswald, lift the veil on the explanations of the Russian camp during the hearing before the CAS. “As far as I know, confided Denis Oswald, they said that Kamila Valieva had taken, by mistake, a medicine intended for her grandfather to treat a disease of the heart. You had to think regarding it.
The thesis of accidental ingestion, which makes it possible to obtain a provisional suspension, having been retained, remained the test of truth. Ice. The short program. During the warm-up, before the passage of the last group of six skaters, Kamila Valieva keeps her mask on for a long time. Wearing it is no longer compulsory at this stage of the competition, but it gives the impression of wanting to delay the moment when it will show itself with its face uncovered. The rink only has eyes for her. The media follow her with their gaze, waiting for a clue. A gesture, a fault, which would betray his condition. But nothing comes.
At the announcement of her name, the cries and encouragement are more numerous than for the other skaters, but it is difficult to measure the origin in an enclosure where the spectators only number in the hundreds. The Russian clan makes itself heard, to excess, to signify to the young girl that she is not alone in the world. «Kamila, Kamila», chants a Russian television crew. Curious atmosphere.
The continuation is played on the ice. Kamila Valieva attacks her program with stiff, almost too mechanical gestures. His first jump, a triple axel, does not look like him. She starts askew, recovers in no time and narrowly avoids falling. But the rest of the program puts it back in order. She resists. The judges retain their rating, but the final tally, a score of 82.16 points, is enough to ensure him the first place. She is in the lead and will not move from there. Her next two, another Russian, Anna Shcherbakova (80.20 pts), and the Japanese Kaori Sakamoto (79.84 pts), are not left behind. But their defeat is consummated.
Expected by the media when she left the ice, the Russian stormed past the cameras. Hidden, she signifies with a nod of her head that she will not answer. «No interview», hammers his coach, the blonde Eteri Tutberidze. It will not pass more in the mixed zone. And leaves his chair empty at a press conference, where the first three of the short program are nevertheless expected. In the absence of Kamila Valieva, a journalist questions Anna Shcherbakova on the performance and the torments of her young partner. “I have no comment to make, sorry”, replies the Russian.
In the lead before the free program, Kamila Valieva can afford an Olympic title on Thursday evening which will still make liters of ink flow. She has the talent. And it is now certain that she also has the mental strength.