15-Year-Old Figure Skater At The Centre Of Fresh Russian Doping Controversy
The medal ceremony was postponed right at the very last minute – much to everyone's confusion. Now we know why...
A 15-year-old figure skater has found herself squarely in the middle of yet another Russian doping scandal.
Teenage sensation Kamila Valieva has reportedly become the subject of a drugs probe following her recent victory at the Beijing Winter Olympics.
The Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) clinched gold in the figure skating team event, successfully seeing off tough competition in the form of the United States and Japan.
But at the very last minute, the medal ceremony was postponed, much to everyone's confusion at the time.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has since come out and confirmed that ongoing legal issues behind the scenes were the reason for the sudden postponement.
And given the ROC's - shall we say - shady past in recent years, everyone suspected the worst.
"We have athletes that have won medals involved," IOC spokesman Mark Adams said.
"Everyone is doing absolutely everything that the situation can be resolved as soon as possible.
"As you know, legal issues can sometimes drag on."
But it turns out people weren't wrong with their initial assumptions as respected Olympics website Inside The Games claimed that one of the skaters on Russia's six-person team was being investigated for alleged drug doping.
Reports from USA Today then confirmed Valieva, who had just become the first woman in history to successfully land a quad jump twice, had tested positive to a banned substance.
While some sections of the Russian media completely dismissed the claims of a performance-enhancing drug found in her system, others tried to shed some light on the unfolding situation, with newspapers such as RBC and Kommersant insisting Valieva had actually taken Trimetazidine which helps treat angina.
"The drug trimetazidine does not help an athlete in any way. At all. It was found in one single sample in December. A minuscule amount. Nothing in her samples before or since," deputy general producer of Russian sports channel Match-TV Vasily Konov said via social media.
"There is no doping in the conventional sense. No! This cardiac drug has no impact on performance. Now leave Kamila in peace."
Other people have flocked to social media to have their say on the matter too, some siding with Konov in throwing their support behind Valieva, while others aren't buying it.
Meanwhile, many users had their fingers pointed squarely in the direction of the ROC, who only recently had the country's name anthem and flag banned from competition due to the infamous doping operation which was uncovered after the 2014 Winter Olympic Games.
Either way, it's understood the investigation is still well underway with still no official winner declared for the event.
Featured Image Credit: AlamyTopics: Doping, Kamila Valieva, Winter Olympics news, performance enhancing drugs, Australia, Winter Olympics, Russia
Max Sherry