The women's figure skating competition at the Beijing Winter Olympics came to an end today (Thursday), in a huge drama that can only be written in books, after the big star, Russia Camila and Aliba fell several times and finished only fourth, bursting into tears during the performance.
The 15-year-old Aliba arrived at the Olympics as the big favorite, and also finished the short exercise in the qualifiers when she was in first place, apparently affected by the great stress she was under after being involved in a drug affair.
Valieva fell on the ice during the freestyle, and in her last square jump, she fell again, getting a low score, of 141.93 points, very far from her world record of 185.29 points, when she ended up ranked fourth overall with 224.09 points.
Valiva with tears during the exercise, Photo: Reuters
It should be remembered that even if she had won one of the medals, she would not have accepted it, following the decision of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), not to award the medals until the end of the legal proceedings.
And yet, nevertheless Russia climbed first on the podium, with the gold going to Anna Shcherbakova with 255.95 points total.
Just remember, just yesterday the New York Times reported that additional materials used to treat heart conditions were found in a sample at the 15-year-old figure skater.
Valieva learned during the Games that the test done on her in December, during the World Championships, was found to be positive with the substance trimtazidine, a drug used to treat angina, which also increases endurance.
On Monday, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled that she could continue in the Olympics, but that does not mean she has been cleared of drugs and she could still face punishment at a later date.
The Times reported that her sample also contained the heart drugs Hypoxen and L-Carnatine, which are not on the World Anti-Doping Agency's banned list.
Following the new revelations, it is possible that media reports in Russia that Valieva allegedly drank from the same cup of her grandfather, who was taking trimtazidine for a heart condition, which caused the test infection, are incorrect.
The Times reported that Valiva's grandfather also provided a pre-recorded video message for the hearing, in which he said he used trimtazidine to treat "attacks".
The athlete's grandfather showed a package of the drug during the announcement.
Valiva's mother said at the same hearing that her daughter took the hypoxic substance due to "variations" of the heart, the Times reported.
She added that Valieva's grandfather also accompanied the teenager to train on a daily basis.
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