ZOH 2022: Russian figure skater with doping find is at the forefront after a short program – ŠPORT.sk

Only the 15-year-old reigning European Champion of the January Tallinn Championships received a score of 82.16 from the judges for performing in Tuesday’s short program.

The main favorite of the women’s competition was her compatriot Anna Ščerbakovová (80.20), the third was the Japanese Kaori Sakamotová (79.84). 25 figure skaters from the short program advanced to free rides (Thursday, February 17 at 11.08 CET).

Valiyev’s preparation was marked by a doping scandal. The day after the end of the team competition at the Olympic Games, in which she contributed to winning gold medals for the ROC, an accredited laboratory in Stockholm informed her of a positive test for the banned substance trimetazidine.

They took a sample of it on December 25. The International Olympic Committee (IOC), WADA, the International Skating Union (ISU) and, separately, the International Testing Agency (ITA) then turned to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to prevent Valiyev from starting. CAS, after assessing the facts for almost six hours, made a verdict on Monday that it would not impose an immediate sanction against Valiyev in the form of a start ban at the Olympic Games.

The young Russian was in action with the starting number 26 in the final group. Right at the beginning, it almost fell when the triple axle was not tightened, but the triple flip and the combination of a triple toeloop with a triple lutz were excellently performed. Due to the circumstances, she managed the technically highly demanding program brilliantly. Her performance was rewarded by fans with an applause, during which she did not shy away from tears.

“The past few days have been extremely difficult for me. Concentrating on the competition has been very exhausting. I am happy, but mentally completely exhausted.” AFP quoted Valiyev as saying after a short program.

Ščerbakovová managed to get closer to her performance, the reigning world champion showed a clean short program and kept a chance for gold before the free rides. Sakamot is also in the game for the title of Olympic champion, who followed up on the excellent performances in the team competition. She improved her personal record by two points, lagging behind Valiyev by only 2.32 points.

ZOH 2022 – figure skating: