At What Cost?: The decision to let Kamila Valieva compete brings the Olympic Committee’s bias to the public eye

During the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, the only sport I watched was figure skating. Any break I had between IB study guides, I was either watching Anna Shcherbakova live or re-watching a recording of Alexandra Trusova performing her five quads in one skate for the third time that day. 

All three of the Russian Olympic Committee figure skaters in the Women’s event caught my eye and made me lose my patriotism toward the Americans. 

Especially one in particular — 15-year-old Russian skater Kamila Valieva.

Along with the rest of the world, Valieva was one of my favorite skaters to gawk over during the Olympics, as her perfect balance of difficult jumps and high component score made her a mesmerizing blur across the ice — brought to fruition as she lifted both arms in the air on every single jump.

But as much as I would’ve liked to watch her skate every event and more, I shouldn’t have been able to. She should’ve been disqualified because of her failed drug test. 

According to the New York Times, she had tested positive for Trimetazidine, a banned drug, at the Russian championships back in December, which her lawyers claim was due to her visiting her grandfather who takes the substance after a heart replacement surgery. 

Due to the positive test being revealed after she had already skated in Beijing, the three-person panel judging the case said that Kamila couldn’t be punished for this delay because it was the fault of the Stockholm laboratory that tested her. 

The emergency panel from the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled that this wasn’t her fault, and we were allowed to see her compete, leaving the other competitors in a state of shock and doubt for the fairness of the games.

However, the panel ruled that if Kamila was to place in the top three, she wouldn’t receive a medal, and neither would any of her other competitors, a decision that I can’t even try to comprehend the logic behind. 

No biting Olympic gold, silver or bronze. No podium where the athletes bask in their glory of being champions and no traditional flower bouquets. 

If she were to get in the top three per being cleared to compete, all of the other athletes could lose this special moment. Many of these skaters understandably felt that the situation was unjust, with even NBC figure skating commentators Johnny Weir and Tara Lipinski expressing how Kamila’s exception is a “slap in the face,” according to the Washington Post. Why should they skate if there’s a chance that no one will be able to medal?

Luckily these unjust circumstances were avoided when, under the pressure of being in the world’s spotlight, Kamila’s routine crumbled due to uncharacteristic landings that left her sitting on the ice. But was this situation lucky? Was it lucky that after her performance, Kamila skated off the ice in tears to her coaches’ criticizing commentary? No, as she should’ve never competed in the first place. 

The adults responsible for Kamila should’ve stopped her from stepping onto the world stage before her chance at gold deteriorated before our eyes. They should’ve protected their young athlete from being drawn into a controversy that shows the Olympic Committee’s bias toward age and race. For example, the incident draws a vastly unequal comparison between Kamila and Sha’Carri Richardson.

Last summer, American sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson, 21, was banned from competing in the Tokyo 2021 Summer Olympics due to a failed drug test of THC, a chemical marijuana, which is not performance-enhancing. Both she and Kamila were favored to place in the top three of their competitions, but there was a flashing difference in their situations — Sha’Carri, a Black athlete, was banned from competing, while Kamila, a white athlete, was allowed to compete. 

This opens up the conversation into the double standard at play within the Olympics. Not only with skin color, but also with age. It brings up the question as to why teenage athletes are allowed to compete in the first place, and if athletes will gain preferential treatment based on age.

Kamila was allowed to skate because she is considered a “protected person” due to her being under 16, according to the Washington Post. While I can understand these protective measures for young athletes, they should not be treated differently when it comes to drug testing, as this has a massive impact on the way they could perform in their sport. 

While the panel itself stated that Kamila would have more protections due to her age, including the “irreparable harm” she may face if prohibited from skating, race was pointed out by Sha’Carri herself as a reason for this unfair decision. 

Sha’Carri tweeted out that after being restrained from running for the ingesting of weed to cope with the loss of her mother, the only difference between Kamila and her was their skin color, and that Kamila’s age and white privilege allowed her to compete. 

As Kamila left the center of the stadium after falling on two of her jumps and her below-average score was announced, the entire audience sat in shock as we saw the disaster of the young Russian team unfold. We saw Russian skater Alexandra Trusova, 16, throw a tantrum after coming in second place, as coaches worked to comfort their confused and tearful young skaters. 

While possibly no human athlete could ever handle criticism of seven billion people, these young figure skaters especially wouldn’t. These athletes shouldn’t have to deal with the pressure, and their coaches should be able to decide if they’re ready to not only compete competitively, but also to handle the immense public pressure that comes with being an Olympic athlete. 

It’s apparent that Kamila’s young and impressionable career and skin color are what cause this controversy and create a lasting impact on not only figure skating, but the entire reputation of the Olympic games. 

I watched Kamila’s performance come to a close with a stern greeting from her coach Eteri Tutberidize, asking in Russian, “Why did you let it go? Why did you stop fighting? Explain it to me, why? You let it go after that axel.” And I wondered why that same coach and the entirety of the Olympic Committee let Kamila fall apart in the middle of the lonely rink to begin with.