Valieva stumbles to fourth place amid doping controversy

Beijing: Anna Shcherbakova won a stunning gold medal in women’s figure skating at the Beijing Games on Thursday night, while teammate Kamila Valieva tumbled all the way out of the medals after a mistake-filled end to her controversial Olympics.

Kamila Valieva falls during the women’s free skate program on Thursday.Credit:AP

Shcherbakova performed a near-flawless free skate to leap over the 15-year-old Valieva, the leader after the short program, who threw up her arms in resignation and disgust after her program.

Russian teammate Alexandra Trusova leaped to silver with her quad-packed program, while Japan’s Kaori Sakamoto claimed bronze.

Valieva, the centre of the latest Russian doping scandal, was left sobbing in the kiss-and-cry area after her scores were read.

She was heavily favoured to win the gold medal, but is headed home with nothing from the women’s program and still faces investigation for a positive drug test.

Moments after she walked off, workers began setting up for flower and medal ceremonies that the International Olympic Committee said would not have taken place if Valieva was on the podium.

Valieva had tested positive for a banned substance prior to the Games, with the controversy only revealed after she had won a team gold medal last week.

She was later cleared to skate ahead of a full investigation.

Anna Shcherbakova en route to the gold medal in the women’s free skating.Credit:Getty Images

Get a note directly from our foreign correspondents on what’s making headlines around the world. Sign up for the weekly What in the World newsletter here.

Most Viewed in Sport

Source: Read Full Article