When the dust settled at Capital Indoor Stadium in Beijing Thursday, presumed favorite Kamila Valieva did not win an Olympic medal for women’s figure skating, setting off a series of extraordinary events. The International Olympic Committee (IOC), probably breathing a sigh of relief, was allowed to conduct a medal ceremony for the top three finishers: Russia’s Anna Shcherbakova (gold) and Alexandra Trusova (silver); and Japan’s Kaori Sakamoto (bronze). Had Valieva qualified for a medal, the ceremony would have been postponed because of an investigation into her failed drug test.
But instead of relishing a moment of joy and accomplishment in winning a silver medal, Valieva’s training partner and teammate Trusova threw a temper tantrum (in Russian) saying she hates the sport, hates that everyone has a gold medal, possibly hates their teammate Shcherbakova, and hates their coach Eteri Tutberidze.
