Russia’s Anna Scerbakova won the women’s figure skaters’ competition at the Beijing Winter Olympics, while her 15-year-old compatriot Kamila Valijeva, who started from the edge of Thursday’s horror scandal, couldn’t stand the pressure, even slipping off the podium.
Second place went to Alexander Trussova of Russia and third place to Sakamoto Kaori of Japan.
Truszova, who finished first with the team and finished third in the world and European championships, was first on the ice, who was fourth in the short program. The figure skater, also known as the Quadra Queen, tried four-lap jumps five times in the freestyle, three of which were perfect, but never fell, giving him the best score of his career for his performance, giving him the lead with 251.73 points.
Next was Sakamoto, who was third in the team and fifth in the previous Olympics. He didn’t have a four-turn jump in his program, but he didn’t make mistakes in his triple eight, and he skated in great harmony with his music. Szakamoto achieved his best of the season in the freestyle and his individual best in terms of overall score (233.13).
The second four-round jump of second, last year’s world champion Shcherbakova, who was also part of the Beijing team success, was flawless and radiated with confidence throughout. As the program for the 17-year-old figure skater proved to be technically strong, he made no mistakes, so he took the lead with 255.95 points.
There was still gold medalist Valijeva at the European Championships in January, who was in the lead after Tuesday’s short program, and the question was whether she could withstand the mental pressure from her doping case. Even the jumps shown at the beginning of the free skating show for Ravel’s Bolero were flawless, he was knocked out in the first triple, he tipped in the second four turns and fell in the next. He had another overturning later. At the end of his production, he waved a big one, then buried his face in the palm of his hand and seemed to be struggling hard to hold back his tears because he felt it would be little for the gold medal. In the end, his 224.09 points were only enough for fourth place, meaning he didn’t fit on the podium, so the top three could already get his medals in Beijing.
At the same time, he received great applause from the audience of nearly 4,000 people at the Budapest Indoor Stadium.
Valijeva was revealed last week that a test of his doping sample at the end of December was positive. Therefore, the medals of the Beijing team competition were not handed over – the Russians won the battle – and it was questionable until Monday whether he could continue to play in the games. The Russian Olympic Committee suspended the automatic pre-trial ban, but its decision was also challenged by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the International Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the International Skating Federation (ISU) before the International Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which upheld the ruling on Monday. decision. The court has not yet investigated the doping case itself.
Following the CAS’s decision, the IOC has announced that in the numbers in which Valijeva is on the podium, there will be a medal distribution after her case is completely closed.
In the team competition, Valiyev skated sensationally, jumping four laps in the Olympics for the first time in the Olympics, immediately twice and falling for the third time, but he was still the best in the field, ie he played a big role in the Russian team ahead of the United States. and the Japanese national team.
The International Testing Agency (ITA) announced on Friday that trimetazidine, one of the doping agents, had been found in Valijeva’s sample. This drug is used to treat the heart muscle and improves the oxygen supply to the blood in a healthy person. Under the defense of the athlete’s lawyers, the drug entered Valijeva’s body by taking the drug prescribed to her grandfather by mistake.
Results:
Figure skating, women, Olympic champion:
Anna Scerbakova (Russian Olympic Committee) 255.95 points
2. Alexander Trussova (Russian Olympic Committee) 251.73
3. Szakamoto Kaori (Japan) 233.13
(MTI)
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