BEIJING, Feb. 17 (BNA): Young Russian Kamila Valeeva shocked the figure skating world when she stumbled fourth in the women’s singles event on Thursday, ensuring the Olympic medal ceremony continues at the Beijing Olympics.
And her compatriot Anna Shcherbakova won the gold with a total score of 255.95. Her Russian compatriot Alexandra Trusova came second, clocking 251.73 seconds, and Japan’s Kaori Sakamoto came third, clocking 233.13. Valieva finished with a total of 224.09, Reuters reports.
Wearing a sparkling black and red dress with bright red gloves, the 15-year-old landed on her opening quad, but stumbled after an Axel triple, the first of a number of stumbles in Maurice Ravel’s “Bolero” free skating routine.
She threw her right hand forward in frustration after her routine, ending four minutes and 15 seconds of a routine that wasn’t anywhere near her usual high standards.
In the stands, loud cheers and applause greeted her arrival on the ice. Fans chanted her name after she faltered as the camera shutters began to speed up.
Valieva hoped to rule out the doping scandal and legal arguments for the lifetime performance of Ravel “Bolero”, which gave her a new lease on life.
It looked as if her blade brush on the ice would silence critics as teenage Salcho landed a quartet 30 seconds into her show.
But what followed was far from perfect.
Her hand touched the ice after Axel’s trio landed and it was the first of many mistakes that left her crying in the “kiss and cry” area after her disappointing performance.
In a high-octane routine, teammate Trusova, the 2021 World Series bronze medalist, attempted to enter five quads for the soundtrack for “Cruella” and “I Wanna Be Your Dog” for a season’s best score of 177.13.
Fellow 17-year-old Shcherbakova’s free skating wasn’t nearly as strong, but the world champion skated accurately when she landed a couple of drops early in her program.
Coaches Eteri Tutberidze, Sergei Dudakov and Daniil Gleikhengauz leaned over the rink to watch all the skaters move.
Valieva tested positive for a banned heart drug after the national championship on December 25, but the result was not revealed until February 8, a day after helping the Republic of China win the team competition.
Valieva was only given clearance to compete in the women’s singles event by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Monday.
She entered skating on Thursday as the hot favorite and the medal ceremony was expected to not continue due to the unresolved doping issue.
She is one of the youngest athletes to have tested positive at the Olympics, raising questions about the role of adults around her and the ongoing scourge of Russian doping in international sport. It also sparked controversy over raising the minimum age for figure skating.
American Tara Lipinski remains the youngest Olympic figure skating gold medalist.
She was younger than Valeeva by more than a month when she won the women’s event in 1998 in Nagano, Japan, becoming the first to land in a three-way ring in the women’s competition.