beijing 2022 winter olympics

U.S., Japan figure skating teams to get torches, not medals, for now

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Who's decision was it to even allow her to compete, know she tested positive. This whole mess could have been avoided.

7 ( +9 / -2 )

I have no doubt she'll be disqualified, she already tested positive.

Her coaching team should be heavily punished.

7 ( +8 / -1 )

Who's decision was it to even allow her to compete, know she tested positive. This whole mess could have been avoided.

Unfortunately the results came out Olympics already underway.

Still no word why.

It's what I'm interested in

5 ( +5 / -0 )

The US and Japan teams just lost their Olympic moment thru no fault of their own

4 ( +5 / -1 )

I have no doubt she'll be disqualified, she already tested positive.

Her coaching team should be heavily punished.

Has the B sample also been tested and it is positive? If it hasn't then she is innocent until due procedure is followed she is not positive. It the normal world when there is a chance of evidence being contaminated it is not admissable in a court of law. Procedure has not been followed in her case and begging the question why ? Is it not strange that details are being leaked by an insider to New York times that in turn is releasing it to the public when it has not been found with certainty that she tested positive. The whole affair smacks of a sinister plot.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

Hopefully she can recover before next Olympics

i wouldn’t hold your breath. Russia is infamous for their using, abusing & discarding young skaters.

What happened to the teenage lass who won gold in Korea 4 years ago ? She’s at home playing with her dog.

3 ( +5 / -2 )

So the American and Japanese skaters are being punished (via being denied the experience of being presented with their medals at the Olympics) through no fault of their own?

Quite frankly, and I don't know a nicer way of saying this. This is a complete and utter b/s and disgraceful decision by the IOC!

They (and the Russians) have snatched away the fruits of the labour by the American and Japanese skaters who have worked tirelessly for years.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

Xi is pissed at Putin, the Olympics has over shadowed by his child abuse of the doping of a child

A dope angry at a dope for doping.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

It's figure skating, not sports like sprinting. How will it affect the scores?

Olympics allowed a male to compete with females in weightlifting.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

She's 15, no way she could have got her hands on those drugs.

Given Russia’s proven track record of institutional doping, in all likelihood she didn’t need to ‘get her hands on’ the drugs. They were most likely provided to her by official Russian entities.

I don't agree, I don't think all the athletes should be punished for the actions of their govt, at least this instance.

If the alternative is to allow a positively doped athlete to compete against athletes who aren’t, then yeah, the slathered shouldn’t be allowed to compete. And if that upsets them, they need to take a long, hard look at the country they are choosing to compete for.

We have legitimate female athletes being completely barred from competing because their bodies naturally produce more than an arbitrary amount of testosterone, diverging they can’t control. Meanwhile, this girl, who has tested positive for banned substances, is allowed to compete because the court said enforcing the ban might negatively affect her career. The court said “that preventing the athlete from competing at the Olympic Games would cause her irreparable harm in these circumstances”.

I guess Sha’Carri Richardson’s harm was ‘reparable’.

I can’t help but be reminded of that judge who gave Brock Turner a flap on the wrist because applying a suitable punishment would have hurt his swimming career.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

It's figure skating, not sports like sprinting. How will it affect the scores?

Clearly it affects them in a positive way. That's why doping is banned mate, and that's why the Russians always dope all their athletes.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

@William Bjornson.

You heard it here first, folks. It was “The West” that made this girl come up positive for banned substances. I bet the CIA was secretly running the whole Russian doping operation in Sochi, too.

Do you think you think they shot her full of the juice using a Bulgarian umbrella or did they go with the classic “laced tea” method? Maybe they spritzed her in the face with it while she was sitting in the park. Or if you wanna be REALLY exotic, maybe they smeared it on her underwear.

Ultimately, even Russian pharmaceuticals couldn’t help her medal.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

@William Bjornson

Either she took the drugs or, more likely, she was doped by her coaches without her knowledge. If the former, she shouldn’t be allowed to compete. If the latter, then the entire Russian Olympic contingent ought to be banned, because any country that drugs their athletes without their knowledge cannot be trusted to compete in the spirit of fair play. You can wax philosophical about the nature of man or whatever, but back down here in reality, we recognize that she was flagged for a banned substance well before the games and the IOC and the international anti-doping association both called for her to be banned.

If Sha’Carri Richardson was barred from the games for cannabis use, it stands to reason that this girl ought to have been banned as well.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

Has the B sample also been tested and it is positive? If it hasn't then she is innocent until due procedure is followed she is not positive.

Already considered that, they already defended the outcome saying it's the grandpa's meds

1 ( +1 / -0 )

The Canadian skaters should get torches too, because they will come in third. The Russians should be banned for life. It's really getting ridiculous.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

The IOC is FOS!!! In other words the torches is a symbol of saying those Japanese and american athletes got burned, Torched!! The decision has already been made. They will not get medals period, its evident by the ruling they gave to continue allowing the Russian skater to participate even those she used banned substances.

The International Olympic Committee is considering offering torches in place of Olympic medals to U.S. and Japanese figure skaters while they await a ruling on the doping case involving Russian skater Kamila Valieva, sources said Thursday.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

The Olympics, where the world competes, and Russia dopes.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

She’ll most probably be disqualified now after testing positive on three different drugs. It’s impossible that’s just a mixup.

Poor little lady. She obviously didn’t need enhancement to beat everybody else. Now her season will be marres with controversy. Hopefully she can recover before next Olympics and coete again.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

Firstly, the Russians shouldn't even be here in the first place, as they're officially excluded from Olympic involvement due to their previous doping-scandals convictions, as a way of trying to establish a "Clean Sport" / fair and even playing-field. They've been allowed back in as part of a devious Olympic legislators' cunning-plan under the guise of ROC, and guess what, they're cheating again. What is wrong with them ? Why can't they just compete cleanly and fairly ? Is it something in the Russian psyche which makes them deceitful and untrustworthy, which is to be found at the very top.

Secondly, they should investigate the extremely arduous and abusive training methods of the girls-skating team, who is nicknamed Cruella de Vile for very good reasons; her modus operandi is Dreadful in every sense, and can be easily explored on the Internet. In a civilised society, she would be censured (if not jailed) for her very cruel techniques.

Well, one thing's for sure, nothing is going to change anytime soon until the current Olympic chiefs have their collective snouts removed from the trough; their corruption is certainly gold-medal class.

0 ( +4 / -4 )

Forget the flowers, medals or torches. The most important thing is that they each get a Bing Dwen Dwen.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

i wouldn’t hold your breath. Russia is infamous for their using, abusing & discarding young skaters.

What happened to the teenage lass who won gold in Korea 4 years ago ? She’s at home playing with her dog.

They are not discaded, there is too much competition.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Xi is pissed at Putin, the Olympics has over shadowed by his child abuse of the doping of a child

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Spoiler alert, she fail to medal

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I don't agree, I don't think all the athletes should be punished for the actions of their govt, at least this instance.

If the alternative is to allow a positively doped athlete to compete against athletes who aren’t, then yeah, the slathered shouldn’t be allowed to compete. 

It's not the alternative

0 ( +0 / -0 )

, it’s just not possible to trust that any athlete that comes out of that country isn’t doped,

That's why there's testing

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Testing should have caught Valieva in time and disbarred her from competting in the Olympics but there was a breakdown of protocol somewhere

0 ( +0 / -0 )

If you already know then test first before having sex

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Lol

0 ( +0 / -0 )

You're the one who said that

0 ( +0 / -0 )

You're trying too hard

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Hahahaha

0 ( +0 / -0 )

k

0 ( +0 / -0 )

The US team just want their medals and Olympic moment - they don't even mind if it's silver

0 ( +0 / -0 )

She's 15, no way she could have got her hands on those drugs. It was decided to let her skate, so, let her skate, if she wins gold, she gets a gold medal.

Because allowing the doped Russian to compete when the others haven't been allowed to would make for fair competition, right? It's not actually the PEDs that improve performace, it's the intent to take them and the age to be able to get them on your own, that improves performance right? The PEDs don't actually have any effect, right?

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

It's not the alternative

Sadly, it is. Given the systemic doping that has occurred in Russia, to the point that they’ve been barred from other international sporting events, it’s just not possible to trust that any athlete that comes out of that country isn’t doped, either knowingly or unknowingly. If all athletes, regardless of nation, was subject to non-partisan monitoring at all steps of their training, then trust could be restored, but that’s not how it works.

There is no international body with the power to monitor every athlete worldwide, so it’s left up to the individual countries to do so. The people responsible for making sure Russian athletes don’t dope is RUSADA, the Russian Anti-Doping Association. Problem is, RUSADA is a government body, the same government that is responsible for the systemic doping in the first place. It’s the inmates guarding the asylum.

At this point, I agree with a lot of the IOC members in saying Russia needs to be barred from the Olympics altogether, for at least one full Olympic cycle.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

That's why there's testing

That's like having sex with someone you know has STIs, with your plan be to find whatever you catch through testing.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

If you already know then test first before having sex

Um, if you already know, then what's the purpose of testing?

You really didn't think that through, did you.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Anyways, the point is letting Russians compete ends up becoming a game of figuring out how they've doped, not whether they have. As such, they aren't competing on the same level, and should be banned from all international sport until they can prove they haven't doped their athletes for at least a decade.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

That's why there's testing

And she tested positive. So she should have been banned. It doesn’t matter if it’s in the middle of the Games.

It's figure skating, not sports like sprinting. How will it affect the scores?

Clearly it affects them in a positive way. That's why doping is banned mate, and that's why the Russians always dope all their athletes

For anyone interested in the “why” of this whole situation, it comes back to changes made years ago in the way figure skating was scored. They changed scoring procedures so as to give an extra 10% ‘bonus’ to any jumping maneuvers that were performed in the second half of a routine. The rationale was that jumps would be more difficult to perform in the second half of the routine because the skater’s legs would be tired from the first half. This caused an outcry from skaters because it led to a rash of people cramming half-assed jumps in at the end of the routine just to try and get those bonuses. The rule was changed slightly to only apply to the first three jumps in the second half of the routine, but late jumps still retained their bonus.

How does this apply to Valieva? The drug she popped for is a heart drug that is known to increase cardiovascular endurance in athletes, meaning it’s used to ensure that she is more energy late in her routine, so that she could nail those bonus-qualifying jumps when, under normal circumstances, exhaustion would have made such jumps nigh impossible for a teenager. Not all performance enhancing drugs make you faster or stronger. Some give you extra “gas in your tank”, as is the case with this drug. That’s why it’s BANNED.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Firstly, the Russians shouldn't even be here in the first place, as they're officially excluded from Olympic involvement due to their previous doping-scandals

I don't agree, I don't think all the athletes should be punished for the actions of their govt, at least this instance.

-2 ( +2 / -4 )

@William Bjornson.

You heard it here first, folks. It was “The West” that made this girl come up positive for banned substances

It must be much easier to live in the fantasyland created by the voices of your 'betters' who convince you that 'your side' is so much more noble and honest than 'their side' who are all charlatans and cheats and warmongers...but I addressed this simpleton mentality in the sentence "...more a demonstration of our unfitness on this planet than any celebration of Human worthiness?" Thank you for reinforcing that view.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

Well, any 'Olympic Spirit' that could have been hoped for in these West poisoned games has crumbled before our eyes as a magnificently talented young woman is destroyed by poisonous politics. This entire episode has been exactly what the corrupt Western minds who crave 'winning' at any expense to Human dignity and honest aspiration have wished for and the skating Gold will be made of Brass and spite. Why even have these events anymore when we see the destructive minds who run them and the depths of Human ruination that occur in them and make more a demonstration of our unfitness on this planet than any celebration of Human worthiness? The Olympics, this international exhibition of the pettiness of us all, should be ended because they bring only sadness and disdain and make empty the term 'sports', and we should stick to what we are really good at and enjoy so much more, WAR.

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

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