The Olympic doping saga continued Tuesday, Feb. 15, in Beijing as Kamila Valieva, who tested positive for the banned heart medication trimetazidine, was allowed to compete in the short program by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), pending a fuller investigation of the obvious. Despite finishing first in the short program, ahead of Russian Olympic Committee teammate Anna Shcherbakova and Japan’s Kaori Sakamoto, Valieva is in a lose-lose situation — sure to be asterisked if she wins and still facing possible disqualification.
Indeed, there are no winners among the skaters as no one will be awarded medals until the investigation is complete, and that could take months.
For others, however, there may be a “silver lining.” Russian President Vladimir Putin is in the catbird seat. If Valieva takes the free skate Thursday, Feb. 17 — and barring a complete meltdown, she’s a shoo-in — she could wind up with the gold medal and team gold as the CAS seems to be leaning heavily toward not doing “irreparable harm” to a minor. What about all the other minors who will be denied their podium moment? Honestly, I think Novak Djokovic missed his profession. The No. 1-ranked tennis player in the world — who was deported from Australia like a criminal after being given a medical exemption to play in the Australian Open, then denied a visa, then told by a court he could play, then booted — should’ve been a 15-year-old female Russian skater. Then he could’ve played while Australia “investigated” the situation so he wouldn’t be irreparably harmed. The irony: He’s vilified for a vaccine he won’t take; she’s given a slap on the wrist for the drug she did. But then Serbia is only a minor former Communist country not a major player like Russia.
If Valieva wins and is denied the gold, Putin still wins, because he can claim that she was the best but was repudiated due to Western prejudices against Russia. It’s the old, narcissistic “poor me” act that has defined his policy toward NATO and Ukraine. Remember when it comes to a narcissist, you can never do enough.
In the case of NBC, it truly isn’t enough. The ratings have been abysmal for the Human Rights Abuser Olympics — what happened to the China experts who flanked Mike Tirico at the opening ceremonies? — but things have been looking up the past few days. Could that be because everyone secretly loves a controversy whirling and twirling in women’s figure skating, the Winter Olympics’ glamour event?
Tonya and Nancy were boffo for Lillehammer in 1994. Kamila — for better or worse the face of the Beijing Winter Games — could be golden for NBC.