The 2022 Olympics have been a huge disappointment for many. In spite of events that were won on the up and up, there’s a stand out that makes me sick.
Since Peggy Fleming win gold in Grenoble in 1968 (when I was eight) I’ve been a breathless devotee. Every Grand Prix event, every year is on my calendar. I love the beauty, artistry and endurance that the sport commands.
Just when figure skating fans were hoping to see young women reach for their Olympic experience, along came the doping scandal last week, which of course was resolved in Russia’s favor. As usual.
Can they win anything without dirty pool?
This isn't their first rodeo in the doping ring.
Subsequently the ladies event, was no longer excluded from the politics and power plays outside the Olympic Village. It was smack dab in the center of it.
Where true athleticism and artistry should win and fair play must rule this most sacred of all competitions, it feels like everything else that Putin touches directly or indirectly.
Tainted and ugly.
What a revolting little man. And knowing how important winning is to that sociopath, does anyone have doubts that this was hatched by or at the very least supported by him?
Kamila Valieva’s entrapment is straight out of his filthy playbook. Possibly to distract world attention from the saber rattling at the Ukrainian border. Whatever the reason, he's ruined lives.
Just another day at the office for him. I suppose the sacrifice of a young girl's standing in the eyes of those who watched her downfall is like drinking coffee. Just something else to do. No emotion or culpability.
And in the end no one wins.
Especially a 15 year old child who was manipulated by the adults around her, drugging her when they were supposed to be looking out for her best interests. They were charged with protecting her. To me, her coaches as well as Putin's sense of morality circles the same toilet bowl as Jeffrey Epstein's did.
Her life will never be the same again; her reputation is trashed. Shredded. Unless stopped, her coaches will move on to another prodigy. The next quad jumping phenomenon.
In a few weeks or so, the world’s fickle attention will be focused on something else and her tragedy will be old news. However in the halls of the IOC I hope that this will not be forgotten and will be addressed. Starting with the proposed minimum age requirement of 17.
Those who would have shared the podium with this girl won’t have a medal ceremony. What a bag in the head for the team figure skaters. The US team won silver medals. For most of them, it’s the only Olympic medal they will earn.
Kamila has every reason to cry. She’s been under a crushing load of pressure. Of course she knew the rules. They all do. But did the ROC give her a choice? The culture of utter obedience and 12 hour practices is enough to tell me that she was under a intimidating spell woven by a domineering team of overbearing adults.
From my humble cheap seat, the Soviet Union is alive and well.
I hope she moves to the US. Our ladies’ team could benefit from her youth and skill. She could be their Tom Brady. And she might discover what it’s like to love her sport again.
Kamila could then in measure redeem herself, heal and move on.
However bringing her to the US is no guarantee. US athletes, knowing it or not, have been drugged just to get that extra edge, too many times. And what happened to the US gymnastics team is a big disgrace and should have been stopped immediately. Instead, continued for many years, barely with the approval of coaches brought here for freedom from Romania.
Ron
She is much too talented to be sacrificed on the floor of drugs. How do you mend a broken heart?