Conspiracy theories swirled on Thurday night over whether she had buckled under the pressure or intentionally sacrificed a medal to ensure her team-mates could stand on the podium.
Regardless, Travis Tygart, chief executive of American anti-doping agency Usada, said both the International Olympic Committee and Russia should share the blame for the ordeal.
“On the one hand, my heart breaks for her because of the acts of the adults in her life and the failures of the Russian and IOC-run systems that permanently cast a dark cloud over her performances,” he told Telegraph Sport. “It’s certain these events weighed heavy on her and hopefully she will get the support she needs going forward. On the other hand, all of us who value clean sport are sick to our stomachs because these catastrophic failures have tragically robbed clean athletes of their sacrifice and Olympic dreams.”
The IOC said on Tuesday that Valieva has argued her positive drugs test was due to contamination with her grandfather’s medicine. However, the explanation has been doubted by experts, after it emerged she also traces of heart drugs hyproxen and L-Carnitine in her system.
The furore comes just over six years after an independent commission set up by the World Anti-Doping Agency and led by Dick Pound, the agency’s first president, found a “deeply rooted culture of cheating” in Russian sport.
Rob Koehler, director general of clean sport advocates Global Athlete and previously deputy director general of Wada, told Telegraph Sport how the skaters caught up in the controversy had been “pawns”. “History is repeating itself because of the lack of action by the International Olympic Committee, World Anti-Doping Agency and the Court of Arbitration for Sport to suspend Russia for state doping,” he said. “These organisations have favoured politics over principle and Russian interests over athlete interests. That’s why athletes have been calling for immediate reforms of these three of these organisations. The status quo is no longer acceptable, the athletes are tired of being pawns with no rights.”
A host of retired British skaters expressed sorrow at the scenes in Beijing on Thursday, with former Olympic champion Robin Cousins overcome with emotion on the BBC commentary as Valieva left the ice in tears. “It should never have happened,” said Cousins.
