Ben Nikpour - Week 5: Kamila Valieva Places Fourth

Kamila Valieva has placed fourth in the women’s figure skating finals. Kamilia Valieva, a fifteen-year-old girl from Russia, has been the center of controversy the past few weeks. She has been part of a doping scandal since it was found out that she was taking trimetazidine. Trimetazidine is a banned drug that is used to treat heart complications. This drug has an alternate use of helping improve stamina in athletes. The young skater tested positive for the medication just last week, but she was tested for it on December 25. However, the Olympic court still allowed her to participate in her competitions. 

A week before the women’s figure skating finals, Kamila Valieva became the first woman to land a quadruple jump in the Olympics. She also helped the Russian team win the gold medal in the competition. All of the hype around her name caused many people to believe she would take the gold in her competition. In fact, Russia was hoping to score a clean sweep meaning the country would win the gold, silver, and bronze medals. Instead, Valieva performed with many mistakes and placed fourth. The gold went to Anna Shcherbakova, and the silver went to Alexandra Trusova, both are Russian. The bronze went to Japan’s Kaori Sakamoto. 

After not receiving a medal, Valieva burst into tears. The dramatic ending to an intense week left everyone around the athlete shocked and even devastated. According to the NBC article, cameras even captured some of the other competitors in tears once they saw what just occurred. 

Many people are now speculating on the treatment of Valieva by her coach. Some individuals are also questioning whether or not it is appropriate for athletes of that age to compete in the tough competitions, especially after Valieva tested positive for banned drugs. The young athlete was put under an enormous amount of pressure from her coach, country, and the entire world. 


Do you think Kamilia Valieva should have been allowed to compete? 

Russian figure skater falls to shocking 4th in women's final after Winter Olympics doping saga

Should the Minimum Age to Compete in Olympic Skating Be Higher? - The New York Times

Comments

  1. AnonymousFeb 22, 2022, 10:28:00 PM

    I do not think she should have been allowed to compete because just like every other player if they are found with a steroid or any substance that helps their performance it is called cheating, and doing this gives such a greater an advantage and is unfair for every other player that is competing.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousFeb 28, 2022, 11:51:00 AM

    I do not think she should have been able to compete because she tested positive for banned drugs. Athletes get banned all of the time for testing positive, and she should not have been an exception, especially because of the fact that she is so young.

    ReplyDelete

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