Valieva – about “arbitrariness” at the Olympic Games: “I was afraid of what the coaches would say, why I didn’t do all the jumps. I probably gave up at that point.”

Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva recalled a key moment from his performance at the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing.

Valieva was in the lead after the short program at the Olympics, but after the free program, where she suffered several falls, she took fourth place.

“I went skating before the free skate and realized that was it. If I had understood that I wasn’t making a Salchow, I wasn’t making an Axel, much less a sheepskin coat, I should have left this sheepskin coat and not tried to make a double or a triple Salchow, but opt ​​for the triple saute. But I was afraid that the coaches would tell me, (ask) why I didn’t participate in all the jumps. That’s probably when I gave up,” Valieva said in an interview with NHK.

At the end of January, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) suspended Valieva for four years for violating anti-doping rules. The 17-year-old Russian’s suspension period begins on December 25, 2021, and her results have been canceled since that date.

Based on this decision, the International Skating Union (ISU) revised the results of the Olympic team tournament and moved the Russian team, which included Valieva, from first to third place.

NHK