WINNING UNDER HARSH GLARE
Kamila Valieva, Russian Olympic Committee, figure skating: Kamila Valieva skated off the ice with the lead in the women’s short program and tears in her eyes. The enormous pressure and scrutiny on the 15-year-old Russian dynamo, who is at the center of the latest Olympic doping scandal, appeared to finally get to her Tuesday night.
BEIJING — Kamila Valieva skated off the Olympic ice with the lead in the women’s short program and tears in her eyes. They were not tears of joy. The enormous pressure and scrutiny on the 15-year-old Russian dynamo, who is at the center of the latest Olympic doping scandal, appeared to finally get to her Tuesday night. Despite an incredible performance by the standards of just about anyone else, Valieva could hardly hold it together while she awaited her scores.
She wound up earning 82.16 points, more than eight off her own world record, but more than enough to top teammates Anna Shcherbakova and Alexandra Trusova as they go for a Russian sweep of the podium.
Valieva did not speak afterward, walking through the mix zone of reporters in stoic silence. The Russian Olympic Committee also declined to bring her to the news conference, which is required only for medal rounds, and when asked about the scandal, Scherbakova said: “I will not say anything about this situation.”
“Whether it is fair, I am not quite sure,” said Japan’s Kaori Sakamoto, who sits in third place. “I would like to refrain from answering that question. Right now I would just like to focus on my own performance.”
Shcherbakova, the reigning world champion, was second with 80.60 points after a clean program. Sakamoto’s score of 79.89 points broke up the “Quad Squad” with Trusova, who fell on her opening triple axel, in fourth with 74.60.
“I think that everything was like always, like every competition,” Shcherbakova said. “I didn’t feel anything different from other competitions, and it was really controlled [and] focused.”
The trio of Russian women, all coached by the embattled Eteri Tutberidze, are trying to deliver the second podium sweep in Olympic figure skating and the first in the women’s competition. The free skate is Thursday night.