There has certainly been no love lost between the United States and Russia over Russian teen Kamila Valieva’s drawn-out doping saga.
Despite testing positive for a banned substance, the 15-year-old has been allowed to continue competing in Beijing, much to the chagrin of the Americans.
Valieva finished first with a score of 82.16 in the women’s short program on Tuesday, taking the lead into today’s free skate.
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However, on NBC’s coverage of the figure skating event, there was deathly silence from the two commentators, ex-Olympic skaters Johnny Weir and Tara Lipinski.
“All I feel I can say is that was the short program of Kamila Valieva at the Olympics,” Weir said bluntly at the end of the Russian’s performance.
“She had a positive test. We should not have seen this skate,” Lipinski added.
Weir has been extremely outspoken on the Valieva saga and called it the “hardest event that I’ve ever had to cover” on a video posted to his Twitter account after the short program.
“I want to thank you all for supporting the skaters that should be in this competition, whose lifework is on the line. Thank you,” he said.
Weir’s displeasure was echoed by Lipinski, who was the youngest figure skater to win a gold medal during the 1998 Nagano Games.
“It’s not just about her skating or not skating,” she said. “It’s affecting everyone at these Olympic Games to think that there is going to be no medal ceremony in the ladies event if she’s on the podium.
“It’s otherworldly to me. I can’t even comprehend that. Imagine how that’s affecting so many other skaters’ lives and their Olympic experiences.
“It makes you question everything. These skaters give up their lives for this moment, to get to this place. Why?”
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