Beijing Olympics - Kamila Valieva

Message
Author
User avatar
Blaze
Posts: 4176
Joined: Mon Jul 12, 2021 9:06 pm
Location: Ille et Villaine (35)

Beijing Olympics - Kamila Valieva

#11 Post by Blaze »

It appears she fell several time during the women's free skate so doesn't get a medal. The stress of the last few days would not have helped her concentration.
The whole thing has been hard for her but hopefully she's young enough to bounce back and think of the future as she could have a chance for the next Olympics. Perhaps she will be very careful of taking medication or any other substance ....
https://www.bbc.com/sport/winter-olympics/60399342

Edit. I've just watched the video - she's clearly brilliant with (hopefully) a great future in front of her. But it was heartbreaking to watch her fall so many times even though she picked herself up immediately and carried on.
They should never have allowed her to continue once she tested positive, both for her sake and for the other competitors.

Veem
Posts: 1561
Joined: Thu Jul 15, 2021 7:00 pm
Location: Near Confolens in Charente

Beijing Olympics - Kamila Valieva

#12 Post by Veem »

The question of age is a highly debatable point when it comes to Olympic events. Some events such as ski-boarding and gymnastics seem mostly to be contested by ever younger competitors, whereas others, like rowing and long distance running might well be more suited to older, stronger, more experienced entrants.

15-year-olds (and younger) have already competed and won medals before, but that doesn't make it right. But perhaps it doesn't make it wrong either across the board.

Pathca
Posts: 2209
Joined: Mon Jul 19, 2021 11:50 am

Beijing Olympics - Kamila Valieva

#13 Post by Pathca »

Physically they are suited to the sports at that age,but the issue is are they mentally?

niemeyjt
Posts: 3942
Joined: Mon Jul 12, 2021 6:34 pm
Location: Lausanne (and sometimes Suffolk)

Beijing Olympics - Kamila Valieva

#14 Post by niemeyjt »

Veem wrote: Thu Feb 17, 2022 6:26 pm15-year-olds (and younger) have already competed and won medals before, but that doesn't make it right. But perhaps it doesn't make it wrong either across the board.
Indeed. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nadia_Com%C4%83neci - one of the most famous.

Wilbro
Posts: 750
Joined: Mon Jul 12, 2021 7:22 pm
Location: Correze

Beijing Olympics - Kamila Valieva

#15 Post by Wilbro »

The ROC should not be allowed to compete for at least 2 games. It's many years since the hairy female russian and Eastern European weightlifters/Shot Putters etc. disappeared from the scene but Russian athletes are still coming into competitions with question marks over them.
I felt really sorry for the girl watching her routine and shame on those who put her through it.

Wilbro
Posts: 750
Joined: Mon Jul 12, 2021 7:22 pm
Location: Correze

Beijing Olympics - Kamila Valieva

#16 Post by Wilbro »

I've just seen this on the BBC news site, says it all!

"It was "chilling" to see the "cold" way distraught Kamila Valieva was treated by her Russian coach after falls in her figure skating routine at Beijing 2022, says International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach.

Valieva, weighed down by a doping scandal and questions over the wisdom of allowing her to compete, came fourth on Thursday after several mistakes.

There was no hug and no comfort for the 15-year-old from coach Eteri Tutberidze when she came off the ice, instead she was asked "why did you stop fighting?"

Valieva was favourite to win the women's event, having set several world records in the short time since she made her senior debut in October. She had led after Tuesday's short programme but the series of falls and messy landings on Thursday ruled her out of a podium finish.

"When I saw how she was received by her closest entourage with what appeared to be a tremendous coldness, it was chilling to see this, rather than giving her comfort, rather than to try to help her," said Bach.

Tutberidze, whose training methods were already under the spotlight, did put her arm around the young Russian while she waited for her score. But moments before that had demanded to know: "why did you let it go? Explain it to me, why?"

Bach said he was "very, very disturbed" by what he had seen when watching the competition on television.

"All of this does not give me much confidence in this closest entourage of Kamila, neither with regard to what happened in the past, nor as far as it concerns the future," he added.

"How to deal, how to address, how to treat a minor athlete at the age of 15 under such an obvious mental stress."

User avatar
Blaze
Posts: 4176
Joined: Mon Jul 12, 2021 9:06 pm
Location: Ille et Villaine (35)

Beijing Olympics - Kamila Valieva

#17 Post by Blaze »

niemeyjt wrote: Thu Feb 17, 2022 6:41 pm
Veem wrote: Thu Feb 17, 2022 6:26 pm15-year-olds (and younger) have already competed and won medals before, but that doesn't make it right. But perhaps it doesn't make it wrong either across the board.
Indeed. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nadia_Com%C4%83neci - one of the most famous.
From the Wiki link : "Following the 1977 Europeans, the Romanian Gymnastics Federation removed Comăneci from her longtime coaches, the Károlyis, and sent her to Bucharest on August 23 to train at the sports complex. She did not find this change positive and was struggling with bodily changes as she grew older. Her gymnastics skills suffered, and she was unhappy to the point of losing the desire to live. After surviving a suicide attempt, Comăneci competed in the 1978 World Championships in Strasbourg "seven inches taller and a stone and a half [21 pounds] heavier" than she was in the 1976 Olympics.[27] A fall from the uneven bars resulted in a fourth-place finish in the all-around behind Soviets Elena Mukhina, Nellie Kim, and Natalia Shaposhnikova."

"Nadia si Securitatea (Nadia and the Securitate), written by historian Stejarel Olaru, was published earlier this month and is the fruit of his trawls through thousands of pages of declassified Securitate reports"
https://www.firstpost.com/art-and-cultu ... 44381.html
"Behind the glamour and success, beatings and humiliation: a new book about Romania's legendary gymnast Nadia Comaneci delves into the archives of the feared communist-era Securitate secret police that record the abuse she suffered even while being feted for her sporting glories".

We can only imagine the hell young athletes in some countries must be put through both physically and mentally. Who knows how Kamila Valieva will feel and act after the way she has been treated and used, finally suffering the humiliation of her final performance ? Are we really to believe she took her grandfather's medication by mistake ? It's far more likely that she hadn't been told what she was taking and put under pressure to say what she did.
I can only feel dreadfully sorry for her. 15 can be a difficult age for any youngster, I just hope she is strong enough to survive.

Post Reply