Kamila Valieva misses out on figure skating medal

Russian teenager Kamila Valieva sensationally crashed out of the medal places in the women's singles figure skating at the Beijing Winter Olympics as days of controversy surrounding a positive doping test took their toll.

Her Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) teammates Anna Shcherbakova and Aleksandra Trusova took gold and silver respectively, while bronze went to Kaori Sakamoto of Japan, but all eyes were on 15-year-old Valieva, who broke down in tears after stumbling several times in her final performance.

First, she had to prop herself up with her hands following a triple axel, before landing on her back after a triple toe and again after an attempted quad toe.

Wunderkind Valieva's historic quadruple jump had sealed gold for the ROC in the team figure skating earlier in the tournament, but that result was cast into doubt when it was revealed that Valieva had tested positive for the banned substance trimetazidine back in December.

Furthermore, The New York Times reported that two further legal substances used to improve heart function, L-carnitine and Hypoxen, had also been found in her blood.

Neither substance is banned but, according to German public broadcaster ARD, Hypoxen has long been used in elite Russian sport "to improve results by 2-6%."

Still, Valieva was allowed to compete in the individual event after a Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) panel heard that the positive test may have been a result of Valieva drinking from a glass of water which contained traces of her grandfather's heart medication.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) did say, however, that there would be no medal ceremony should Valieva finish on the podium.

"In the interests of fairness to all athletes and the NOCs concerned, it would not be appropriate to hold the medal ceremony … as it would include an athlete who, on the one hand, has a positive A-sample, but whose violation of the anti-doping rules has not yet been established."

Ultimately, that eventuality didn't come to pass as an emotional Valieva crashed out.

Sympathy for Valieva

Despite the ongoing controversy, there was sympathy for the teenager both from the crowd in Beijing and from voices within the sport.

"Precisely what should not have happened, has happened," said former East German Olympic champion Katarina Witt on German broadcaster ZDF.

"She's a 15-year-old child who has been put under political pressure. The whole world was watching and she was a shadow of her usual self.

"Someone, her team or her parents, someone with responsibility, should have put her on a plane and taken her away from there. The way she has been treated is so irresponsible. She's only 15 and she could only ever come out of this as a loser."

Witt, who won figure skating gold in Sarajevo 1984 and Calgary 1988, also said it is "time for the sport to consider introducing an age limit" and criticized the treatment of young athletes such as Valieva.

"She has the talent and the aura and she's trained so hard. I just hope that she can manage to overcome what's going on now and return, but I fear that the next 14-year-old will already be waiting in the wings to take her place."

Trusova: 'I hate skating. I hate this sport'

With Valieva not among the medals, teammates Shcherbakova (17) and Trusova (17) were free to receive their gold and silver medals, with Japan's Sakamoto taking bronze. But Trusova was also distraught at missing out on gold.

"Everyone has a gold medal, everyone, but not me. I hate skating. I hate it. I hate this sport. I will never skate again. Never," Trusova said as she briefly left the sight of Eteri Tutberidze, who coaches her, Shcherbakova and Valieva.

"I haven't been winning major events for three years. I always try to reach a goal, I always add more quads," she continued. "And if I manage that, I will win. But this didn't happen, that's why I was upset."

Asked later why she broke down, Trusova said: "Just because. I wanted to cry, so I cried. I've been three weeks alone without my mother, my dogs. So I cry."

Champion Shcherbakova produced a stunning display to beat Trusova by just four marks (175.75 - 171.54) and win gold with a total score of 255.95 - the ROC's fifth gold of the Games.