So at least in the US, the big story was around Kamila Valieva, the Russian skating prodigy who had a doping test come back positive but was allowed to compete. This led to a wave of outrage, with the ending of young Kamila falling apart on her last skate, going from one of the highest scores of all time in the previous skate to her getting 4th place....not even a medal.
For me, I found the media coverage around the young star pretty revolting. It comes down to this: While America has a legal culture of "Innocent until Proven Guilty", we certainly don't act like it in media coverage. Kamila did have a positive test, which was reviewed by the International Doping Agency. She went through the appeals process, as is her right. Ultimately the body decided to allow her to skate while the investigation was ongoing, but with the possibility of her results getting striped should the final result be that she was engaged in doping. Ultimately the system was working the problem. We can disagree with that system, disagree with that ruling, etc.... but people ripped into Kamila as the villain. No innocence until proven guilty, she was guilty flat out. Even the commentators during her routine would say "she should not be on the ice right now". That is just disgusting to me, to see this young woman competing, and everyone ripping into her over an accusation that the system was handling.
Again, I'll admit, the accusation looks very credible, I would not be surprised at all if the committee comes back and says "she was doping, all results stripped". But until that time, this is THE most important moment of this girl's career, potentially her whole life. To tear it down because of outrage at the system, or to create media frenzy....is just despicable. If the committee does create a final ruling of doping, then at that point by all means have your circus. Rip into the coaches and her, make them the villain, because at that point they would have earned it. But not like this, it was really heartbreaking to watch. I hope the Scarlett Letter is still taught in schools today, because the lesson it teaches is more relevant today than ever.
Now the other thing I found interesting about figure skating in general, is how much the scoring has changed. Frankly the idea that a person could fall multiple times in a skate and still get 4th place was pretty surprising to me. In the old days, perfection was the name of the game. One fall and you were done, one slip and you were probably out of medal contention. While skating is much more physically demanding now, the cushion for mistakes seems much kinder than in decades past. Whether that is a good thing or not....not really sure.
For me, I found the media coverage around the young star pretty revolting. It comes down to this: While America has a legal culture of "Innocent until Proven Guilty", we certainly don't act like it in media coverage. Kamila did have a positive test, which was reviewed by the International Doping Agency. She went through the appeals process, as is her right. Ultimately the body decided to allow her to skate while the investigation was ongoing, but with the possibility of her results getting striped should the final result be that she was engaged in doping. Ultimately the system was working the problem. We can disagree with that system, disagree with that ruling, etc.... but people ripped into Kamila as the villain. No innocence until proven guilty, she was guilty flat out. Even the commentators during her routine would say "she should not be on the ice right now". That is just disgusting to me, to see this young woman competing, and everyone ripping into her over an accusation that the system was handling.
Again, I'll admit, the accusation looks very credible, I would not be surprised at all if the committee comes back and says "she was doping, all results stripped". But until that time, this is THE most important moment of this girl's career, potentially her whole life. To tear it down because of outrage at the system, or to create media frenzy....is just despicable. If the committee does create a final ruling of doping, then at that point by all means have your circus. Rip into the coaches and her, make them the villain, because at that point they would have earned it. But not like this, it was really heartbreaking to watch. I hope the Scarlett Letter is still taught in schools today, because the lesson it teaches is more relevant today than ever.
Now the other thing I found interesting about figure skating in general, is how much the scoring has changed. Frankly the idea that a person could fall multiple times in a skate and still get 4th place was pretty surprising to me. In the old days, perfection was the name of the game. One fall and you were done, one slip and you were probably out of medal contention. While skating is much more physically demanding now, the cushion for mistakes seems much kinder than in decades past. Whether that is a good thing or not....not really sure.
