Shcherbakova wins figure skating gold as Valieva collapses

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Last edited Thu Feb 17, 2022, 11:34 PM - Edit history (5)

Source: Associated Press

Shcherbakova wins figure skating gold as Valieva collapses

By DAVE SKRETTA
an hour ago

BEIJING (AP) --

Anna Shcherbakova won a stunning gold medal in women's figure skating at the Beijing Games on Thursday night, relying on her experience to deliver a clean performance, while Russian teammate Kamila Valieva tumbled out of the medals in a mistake-filled end to her controversial Olympics.

Shcherbakova performed a near-flawless free skate to leap over the 15-year-old Valieva, the leader after the short program, who threw up her arms in resignation and disgust after her program. Russian teammate Alexandra Trusova leaped to silver with her quad-packed program while Japan's Kaori Sakamoto held onto the bronze medal.

Valieva, the center of the latest Russian doping scandal, was left sobbing in the kiss-and-cry area after her scores were read. She was heavily favored to win the gold medal but is headed home with nothing from the women's program and still faces investigation for a positive drug test.

{snip}

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More AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/winter-olympics and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/winter-olympics-free-skate-kamila-valieva-30a6781dfb1080acf9f6633ca77c40a2

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I don't know how to handle this. It's huge news, but a lot of people haven't seen it yet on TV. I don't want to spoil their fun.

I've DM'ed some forum hosts for advice.

Once the news gets well known, I'll post the headline. Sound like a plan?

Thanks.

edited

It's on the CBS radio news at noon. The local NBC TV affiliate in DC is talking about it. I'll give it an hour to soak in.

Here's the original text. I'm removing the "Olympics skating. Spoiler alert" title and placeholding text at 12:59 p.m.

-- -- -- -- -- --

Edited again. No one is happy with how I've done this, despite the fact that even NBC is reporting it. I'm going back to the original.

Olympics skating. Spoiler alert

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Shcherbakova wins figure skating gold as Valieva collapses

By DAVE SKRETTA
an hour ago

BEIJING (AP) --

Anna Shcherbakova won a stunning gold medal in women's figure skating at the Beijing Games on Thursday night, relying on her experience to deliver a clean performance, while Russian teammate Kamila Valieva tumbled out of the medals in a mistake-filled end to her controversial Olympics.

Shcherbakova performed a near-flawless free skate to leap over the 15-year-old Valieva, the leader after the short program, who threw up her arms in resignation and disgust after her program. Russian teammate Alexandra Trusova leaped to silver with her quad-packed program while Japan's Kaori Sakamoto held onto the bronze medal.

Valieva, the center of the latest Russian doping scandal, was left sobbing in the kiss-and-cry area after her scores were read. She was heavily favored to win the gold medal but is headed home with nothing from the women's program and still faces investigation for a positive drug test.

{snip}

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More AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/winter-olympics and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

[lapfog_1]

1. I actually have a little sympathy for Valieva

she is only 15 years old and I'm pretty sure her Russian coaches and (possibly) her parents pushed her to take the medication to increase endurance (heart meds).

But those medications aren't magic, her skill at figure skating is the result of long hours of practice.

That said, she should have withdrawn from competition, issued an apology, and cleaned up for future competition.

[NewJeffCT]

11. agree

she admitted to taking the drugs as well, from what I hear. But, at 15 it was likely something that her coaches and/or parents pushed on her. She's landing quadruple jumps and 1976 Olympic gold medalist Dorothy Hamill didn't even attempt a triple, so that's how far the sport has come.

[Traildogbob]

16. I'm with ya

The Gold winner was freakin amazing. All these skaters and ridiculously talented. Just try standing on dry ground in those contorted positions for 5 seconds. Russia put that young lady in that position. They always have. I have a daughter so I sympathize when a young girl is heartbroken. I am sure she still put in endless hours her whole life to be there. Maybe there should be running, skating, and a Tour de France where drugs are ok, kinda like Wresslin. I was a massive Lance fan. He brought me so much joy when winning. Broke my heart he did the doping. But damnit, I might would do some crack if I could have destroyed those mountains on my bike, just once. Kinda sarcasm here. 🤫
Kudos to all the skaters. Greatest athletes on earth. And most a children.

[JohnSJ]

20. I have a lot of sympathy for her, and blame a lot of people for what she went through including her

coaches, the Olympic committee, and Russia for setting up a system that encourages drug enhancement use

It is an abusive system

[BlueIdaho]

21. The fault is not hers at 15

The fault is with the Russian Olympic Committee and the IOC. She should never have been put in this position. The ROC on the other hand has a long track record of doping their athletes. That’s why Russians now compete under the IOC flag.

[groundloop]

23. All true, but she still should not have been allowed to compete.

Banned drugs were in her blood so she shouldn't have competed.

Furthermore, a 15 years old is mature enough to know right from wrong.

[BlueIdaho]

24. Agree...

But again - that’s the fault of the Russian Olympic Team and the IOC. They should never have let her on the ice in the first place. I won’t try to judge her ability to tell right from wrong. She has been under the control of the Russian Olympic Committee for most of her life. Who knows what she has been taught.

[lapfog_1]

27. Not to mention the inordinate pressure

that she is under because of the way the Russians treat their star athletes versus the "also rans".

She may have known that she was taking performance enhancing drugs... bit I doubt very much she had much to do with the decision.

Of course, we have out own version of "stage parents" in the USA too.

[BlueIdaho]

28. Excellent Point

And a good reason to look at minimum age requirements to participate in the Olympics. Way too much pressure to put on a 15 year old kid.

[Bucky]

46. As someone who works with 150+ 17-18 year olds...

I have a slightly different take. Some are mature enough to make that call in the face of career and ambition pressures, but the vast majority of teenagers do go along with what authority figures tell them.

A 15-year-old knows to check off "Don't do drugs" on an opinion survey, but defying all of your mentors and guardians to compete in a global sport that you're ambitious for... That would take more than just an extraordinary kid

[Slammer]

31. meds

The medicines aren't magic. But the three medicines she was taking combined to increase blood flow to the heart and her endurance.

That allowed her to practice longer and more effectively than she would have been able to otherwise. And is the main reason that the one drug is banned.

She got an edge both in practice and in events, not just events.

[IronLionZion]

35. There are definitely some adults who should be held accountable nt

[left-of-center2012]

2. ???????????

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[Probatim]

3. When it was posted 10 minutes ago, the start of the article appeared.

It clearly showed the spoiler which was not the poster's intent.

Adding those obscured the spoiler.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

6. That's what I meant to say.

I had added a column of dots, but the software removed the spaces and line breaks between the dots, and there was the news splattered all over the front page.

[Probatim]

7. I hope I bailed you out with my response. Even if it was a little bit.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

9. You did. You said what I should have said.

Once the news gets well known, I'll post the headline. Sounds like a plan?

Thanks.

[Probatim]

10. A most reasonable plan.

Enjoy the day!

[mahatmakanejeeves]

13. The news is on the CBS radio news at 11, and

the local NBC TV affiliate is talking about it too.

NBC is saving the broadcast for prime time tonight. I won't wait that long.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

5. By adding that, I keep the story off the front page.

Look at the snippets on the front page.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/

A person checking that could easily see the news without wanting to.

Thanks.

[Mike Nelson]

4. Well...

... I feel bad for all the athletes who trained hard and did it without "help" from drugs. Also, I hope her grandfather is okay and didn't run out of medication. Kamila is only fifteen, so she can do it correctly next time. Everyone loves a good comeback!

[Ford_Prefect]

12. What we appear to "know" is that no one else was caught. We do not know who else is abusing.

[Ford_Prefect]

8. I blame sports media and her coaches equally.

Sports media who hype any flaw in performance into the disaster of the century, who hype individuals and teams as if they were GODS. I blame her coaches for the obvious abuse of a 15 year old young woman, talented though she is.

[George II]

14. I guess her grandfather's heart medication didn't work this time?

[More_Cowbell]

15. I wouldn't be surprised if she tanked it on purpose

The Russians might think that there won't be an investigation, or it would be less intense, if she didn't medal.

[hedda_foil]

18. Agree. I think she was forced to throw it so her teammates could get the medals.

[Tumbulu]

45. That is what I think too.

Really miserable for them all, actually.

But I do not believe they will ever stop using these drugs.

[Submariner]

17. Putin will have her canning herring in the far east Vladivostok

by next week. We will never see or hear from her again. She is a dead political tool now.

[Bucky]

47. But with performance enhancing drugs, she should be very good at canning herring

And really, shouldn't we all strive for excellence, regardless of what work we do?

[petronius]

19. Heh, "...to deliver a clean performance..."

Intentional wording?

[ThoughtCriminal]

22. There's no crying in baseball

But in Figure Skating, it's required.

[zebrastripe]

25. PENALIZED

Will Kamila Valieva be disciplined when she returns to Russia?

[Bucky]

48. Probably not. They have invested money in her

Russia isn't a great place to be tied into the "state achievements" industry with, especially if you don't deliver in the spotlight, but it ain't the old Soviet Union either. She won't end up in a gulag, but it's likely some of her privileges and perquisites are on the line now.

A kid this talented is going to find employment somewhere. She's living in an authoritarian society, but it's a capitalist authoritarian society, not a full-on dictatorship.

[Greybnk48]

26. The Russians should be banned from the Olympics.

The clean athletes can compete for another country following the rules of that country.

Russia has always cheated and should be thrown out for at least 3 Olympics to maybe break the cycle.

[steampunk]

29. At 15 Trump was doin underhanded Trump deeds. Would you give him a pass?

She knew, she cheated then lied. She knew taking the Banned drug TMZ gave her a big performance atvantage by pumping extra oxygen heavy blood into her heart. She knew that Grandpa's heart meds didn't accidently fall into her bowl of Cream of wheat. Her teamates were probably pressured just as hard as her but they choose not to take an IOC banned drug. She lacked the integrity to be on the world center stage representing her country. As do all athletes who cheat.

Hopefully in four years she'll return to the Olympics more mature and stronger in charater to compete cleanly at the highest levels of her sport.

[Bucky]

49. I get a kick out of that Trump analogy

I mean, it's a hysterical comparison. Because, sure, if I ran into a 15 year old kid, who was actually a 15-year-old Donald Trump, I would treat him with the same balance of discipline and compassion that I do with any other emotionally-manipulated rule-breaking teenager.

But as an over-the-top metaphor, you're basically treating Trump like many people do with Hitler. And although Trump isn't a Hitler, Trump is kind of our 21st century Hitler: garish, ridiculous, and uniquely evil.

[Slammer]

30. Valieva

Valieva was allowed to compete in multiple events after the IOC found out she took banned substances.

Sorry, they need to get rid of the IOC as an organization after the Olympics as well as the Russian athletes during this Olympics.

I wouldn't be shocked to find out that the girl was ordered to take a dive so that she wouldn't medal during this last event so as to take pressure off of the Russian Olympic Committee.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

32. Opinion: Why the quad revolution in women's figure skating is a tragedy

Thu Feb 17, 2022, 12:56 PM: Opinion: Why the quad revolution in women's figure skating is a tragedy

Opinion: Why the quad revolution in women’s figure skating is a tragedy

By Mili Mitra
Editor, Global Opinions
February 10, 2022|Updated February 11, 2022 at 9:20 a.m. EST

This week, 15-year-old Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva became the first woman to complete a quad jump — with four rotations — in an Olympics. Not so long ago, quads in the senior women’s competition felt like a pipe dream. Now, multiple other female skaters will be attempting quads in next week’s individual event, including Valieva’s 17-year-old compatriots Alexandra Trusova and Anna Shcherbakova.

Valieva’s feat was soon shadowed by news that she had tested positive for a banned substance in December and was suspended from competition for a brief period, until a Russian anti-doping committee lifted the suspension. But the quad revolution raises a broader concern about elite women’s skating: Although the sport can provide moments of athletic triumph, the system that produces them is a tragedy.

For much of the past decade, the discipline has been dominated by teenagers. Russia in particular has a seemingly never-ending pipeline of young phenoms able to jump higher and with more stamina, or do tricks and combinations that earn extra points. Part of this has to do with the country’s strong system for identifying and recruiting these talents.

Another, darker part of this story involves training: Many young Russian skaters are taught to jump by “twisting their upper bodies before they’ve taken off from the ice,” otherwise known as “pre-rotating.” This strains their backs at a time when their bodies are still developing and relies on the skaters staying small and often unhealthily thin. Their diets and weight are then heavily controlled to delay changes in their bodies for as long as possible. ... This is not a sustainable strategy — and it’s not meant to be. Elite training programs — including the one run by Eteri Tutberidze, who coaches all three Russian skaters — develop athletes to enter and win the Olympics and world championships. If they retire within a year or two, there’s another prodigy ready to take their place.

[This article was featured in the Opinions A.M. newsletter. Sign up here for a digest of opinions in your inbox six days a week.]

{snip}

Opinion by Mili Mitra
Mili Mitra is an editor for The Post's Global Opinions section. Previously, she was a digital producer with Opinions and an intern with the editorial board. Twitter https://twitter.com/MitraMili

[Hekate]

33. And just like that, she hits the "Eteri expiration date" at age 15 & her coach bops off ...

… to find another 12 - 13 year old to dope into stardom.

Sorry for the kid. It’s the coach, and all the other greedy adults in the ROC and the IOC who need to be sanctioned.

[StevieM]

34. I wish you hadn't posted this with the news in the title.

I had been planning to watch it tonight.

Plenty of people were able to avoid the news and assumed that DU posts would contain spoiler alerts.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

36. The original title did not divulge what had happened.

I consulted with EarlG and a few forum hosts on how to handle this.

The story was on the CBS radio news at 11:00. It was on the local NBC TV affiliate at 11:00. They pointed out that the figure skating was coming on tonight.

It wasn't until two hours after that that I changed the title to what it is now. By that time, there was another story about it at DU, in the Sports group.

I'm sorry, but the story was off and running by that time. Even the NBC affiliates were talking about it.

[milestogo]

39. I disagree with how this was handled.

If you go to the sports group, you might expect spoilers.

If you go to LBN you don't expect to have the experience of watching the competition in the evening spoiled for you.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

37. How NBC handled one of the most gut-wrenching scenes in Olympic figure skating history

Olympics

How NBC handled one of the most gut-wrenching scenes in Olympic figure skating history



Kamila Valieva’s performance came up short Thursday after she faced extraordinary pressure and attention at the Olympics. (Aleksandra Szmigiel/AP)

By Cindy Boren
Today at 12:22 p.m. EST

One of the most stunning moments in the history of Olympic defeats unfolded Thursday after Kamila Valieva, the 15-year-old Russian figure skater largely expected to waltz to a gold medal, fell twice during her free skate to finish in fourth place.

Centered around a youngster who had been under intense scrutiny after she was allowed to compete despite a positive test for a banned substance, the scene on NBC’s broadcast on the USA Network was excruciating to watch and quickly devolved into teary disbelief and chaos that was unlike anything in recent Olympic memory.

“This is my 18th Olympic Games,” NBC’s Jimmy Roberts said as he closed the live coverage, “and I can honestly say I do not think I have ever seen anything like this. Raw emotions everywhere. A stunning resolution to the story, and it’s one I can’t imagine anyone saw coming.”

{snip}

Had she finished with a medal, there would not have been a ceremony, International Olympic Committee officials had said. But she finished fourth, which meant the podium show — with all its raw emotions among the three skaters who had won — would be on full display.

{snip}

By Cindy Boren
Cindy Boren arrived at The Post in 2000 as an assignment editor in charge of baseball and NFL/Washington Football Team coverage. She switched to full-time writing, focusing on national sports stories and issues, when she founded The Early Lead blog in 2010. Twitter https://twitter.com/cindyboren

[milestogo]

38. This did not need to be posted here.

Some of us were going to watch tonight, and wanted to be surprised.

Thanks for ruining it.

[11 Bravo]

40. I greatly appreciate your effort not to give away the result. There are those at DU ...

who positively delight in posting spoilers (without the alert), despite numerous entreaties not to do so. Their tiresome refrain is either "It's only sports (or show business, or some other endeavor which the deem to be unserious)", or they claim "Hey, I'm just reporting breaking news."
It's an asshole move, and you are to be congratulated for your thoughtfulness and consideration in not doing so.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

41. Yeah, but I've gone back and forth with the title throughout the day.

I'm not as saintly as I appear to be.

[11 Bravo]

43. OK, but you reached out to Earl G for guidance and eventually made the right call.

I'm convinced that some people post spoilers just to be dicks.
So I guess I'll award you a (slightly tarnished) halo instead of full beatification.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

44. You might want to hold onto the slightly tarnished halo.

I stayed up to watch the event on TV. I would not have done this had I not known what was going to happen.

Since the event is over, I have gone back to the LBN-style "don't alter the headline" rule.

It was so sad to watch.

[Bucky]

50. Amen. People who post spoilers are worse than Simon, the killer from "Death on the Nile"

Oops

[aggiesal]

42. I do not watch skating as a competition ...

I watch it for the beauty, but any competition that is subjective is not a competition.
Run/Swim/Skate/Ski faster
Jump/Pole Vault higher
Score more baskets/goals
Anything objective.

I'm through with subjective because judges come in with prejudices. If an athlete didn't win their national competition, then why should they win the international competition.

Same thing goes for Pairs Figure Skating, Gymnastics & Diving.

Last year (Tokyo 2020 in 2021), I saw the mens synchronized diving competition where the pair from China won the silver.
When they did one of their dives live, I could see that they were horribly out of sync. I was expecting low scores, but they ended up receiving some of the highest scores, so I wanted to see what the judges saw that I didn't.
I have TiVO, so I'm allowed to backup the video and literally go frame-by-frame (with TiVO, when you pause the video, pressing the FF button, allows you to view the next frame but remained paused), when I did this, in one frame the divers were 90 deg. difference, one was facing down, and the other facing forward. I can't believe other pairs divers weren't sync'd better. At the least, they should have not scored very high. Granted they may have been one of the best, because they are scored on 6 dives, and I only saw a couple of rounds and this non-sync'd dive just happened to be one of them.
I switched to a different event after that and vowed not to watch subjective competition again.

Here is the complete competition on Youtube. The dive I mentioned above starts at 54:51. Watch it at normal speed.
On Youtube, I don't know how to go frame by frame, but stop and start around the 55:10 mark
and you'll see how out of sync they were, yet they scored 93.24 with mostly 8.5's, which is an extremely high mark for sync.

Enjoy the Olympics!