A test for Kamila Valieva – and the Olympics
Post Reports
The Washington Post
4.4 • 5.1K Ratings
🗓️ 15 February 2022
⏱️ 20 minutes
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Summary
Kamila Valieva is arguably the best female figure skater in the world. She’s also a 15-year-old at the center of an Olympics doping scandal. After the skater’s emotional performance Tuesday, we talk about doping and her controversial coach.
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Kamila Valieva, the 15-year-old figure skating phenom from Russia, arrived in Beijing poised for a coronation, with a potential Olympic title affirming her status as the best women’s skater of her time. But now at the center of the doping controversy that has rocked these Games, Valieva finished her short program and brought her hands over her eyes, overwhelmed by a week in which her eligibility for this competition was in jeopardy – and is still being called into question.
Health reporter Yasmeen Abutaleb explains the doping scandal andthe questions being raised about Kamila Valieva’s coach, Eteri Tutberidze. The Russian coach has helped revolutionize women's figure skating, but the doping controversy surrounding her latest star has put Tutberidze’s methods under an unwelcome spotlight.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Give a helping hand this holiday season with the Washington Post helping hand. |
| 0:04.6 | This is John Kelly and I'm writing about Bread for the City, Friendship Place, and Miriam's Kitchen over the next few weeks. |
| 0:11.1 | Go to posthelpinghand.com to learn more and donate today. |
| 0:17.1 | On Tuesday, 15-year-old Russian figure skater Kamila Valliiva completed an incredible performance in the Olympic Women's Short Program. |
| 0:25.1 | It was a testament to her skill and her dedication, and yet the whole time she just looked sad. |
| 0:35.9 | It was the first time that Valliiva competed since the world learned that she had tested positive for a banned substance. |
| 0:42.9 | I think all things considered it probably went okay for her. She didn't seem super happy with her performance. |
| 0:50.5 | That's reporter Yesmeen Abu Talib. |
| 0:52.9 | She didn't quite fall on one jump but stepped on it so she got a partial deduction for it, |
| 0:58.0 | but she still ended up in first out of the short program. |
| 1:01.6 | But for now, Valliiva is not going to get a gold medal. Nobody is going to get a medal into this whole scandal get sorted out. |
| 1:10.4 | From the newsroom of the Washington Post, this is Post Reports. I'm Martine Powers. |
| 1:15.6 | It's Tuesday, February 15th. |
| 1:17.7 | Today, the Kamila Valliiva doping scandal, and how her positive test for a banned substance raises questions about the adults around her. |
| 1:27.6 | People recognize that she's 15 and a minor and that this is a failure of the adults around her, |
| 1:33.6 | but that this sort of flies in the face of advocating for clean competition and sport. |
| 1:40.4 | We're talking to Health Reporter Yesmeen Abu Talib, who has been looking deeper into this performance-enhancing drug, |
| 1:46.8 | and how its use could have affected Valliiva's performance. |
| 1:55.2 | Anyone who has been watching the Olympics knows that Russia is already in trouble for doping. |
| 2:00.0 | In the aftermath of a state-sponsored doping program, Russian athletes have not been allowed to officially compete for Russia. |
| 2:06.8 | They're technically athletes for the Russian Olympic Committee or the ROC. |
| 2:10.8 | So they can't fly their flag, they can't play their anthem, it's supposed to be this way of shaming Russia. |
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