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Amid a doping scandal that has taken center stage at the 2022 Olympics in Beijing, Russian officials continue to throw their support behind figure skater Kamila Valieva.
The 15-year-old returned to Moscow less than 24 hours after failing to medal on Thursday. Following the International Olympic Committee’s contentious decision to allow Valieva to compete, she had a disastrous free skate performance that saw her fall twice and knock herself down to fourth place in the women’s individual figure skating competition.
The Olympics’ scandal thrust Valieva into the global spotlight, with high profile figures in Russia — as well as the nation’s media — becoming her biggest advocates. In defense of Valieva, headlines and tweets have condemned Western media and the IOC for their handling of the the teen’s doping case and behavior, which they have deemed to be bullying.
Photos of Valieva sprung up on Moscow billboards with messages of support. Many read “Kamila, we are with you!” in Russian. Additionally, the Russian Ministry for defense tweeted out a video in which a little girl is surrounded and protected by the Russian military as she skates, presumably referencing Valieva.
“All the pressure and stress that she had, she withstood with honor and dignity,” Oleg Matytsin, Russia’s Minister of Sport, said to TASS. “I really sympathize and worry about Kamila’s performance in the free program. But she is a very strong and strong-willed athlete, will overcome all difficulties and continue to delight us at future competitions, and we will always support her.”
Much of the scrutiny from Russian media and officials points to Valieva’s age compared to that of her critics, placing immense pressure on the teen.
“There were ten days of hell, during which adults and seemingly respectable people from the Western media and the IOC drowned this fragile genius,” a translation of a piece by Russian newspaper Sports-Express wrote. “And they did it for no obvious reason – simply on the basis of unproven suspicions and banal politics.”
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Another headline from the publication states “Valieva off the podium – a tragedy for which the IOC should be ashamed.” The newspaper also encouraged Valieva to not “let evil adults cripple you” and “turn on the instinct of self-preservation.”
Almost all coverage in Russia about Valieva has been overwhelmingly positive toward the skater, who tested positive for trimetazidine, a heart medication that has the potential to be performance-enhancing, prior to the Winter Games.
A survey by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center, a state-run polling organization, found that Russians did not believe Valieva should have been punished for her actions. 57 percent believe “that our athletes do not use illegal drugs or do it less often than others,” and 62 percent think the investigation on the teen phenom was “biased.”
Most recently, public figures have condemned IOC president Thomas Bach, who said he was “disturbed” by the “tremendous coldness” of the skating star’s “closest entourage,” who were caught criticizing Valieva after her free skate.
Dmitry Chernyshenko, Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister, said that Bach’s comments were “frankly inappropriate and wrong,” and accused him of inserting a narrative into the situation.
“We are deeply disappointed to see an IOC President weave his own fictional narrative on the feelings of our athletes, and then present these publicly as the voice of the IOC,” Chernyshenko said in a statement to Olympic news coverage website Inside The Games,
Aleksandr Gorshkov, the President of the Russian Figure Skating Federation, accused the IOC of trying to “morally crush Kamila” through harassment, via a statement to TASS.
“Everything that happened at these Games around Kamila and our coaching staff by a number of officials and media representatives can only be called harassment,” Gorshkov said.
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