The career of an Olympic athlete is short, but Russian figure skaters under the tutelage of Eteri Tutberidze that career is even shorter. There has never been a repeat Olympic medal winner under Tutberidze.

Back in 2014 when the winter Olympic games were held in Sochi, Russia a huge doping scandal resulted in an official ban of the Russian athletes. A ban that is scheduled to end this year resulted in Russian athletes having to compete under the Olympic flag with the Olympic anthem played in stead of their own.

Whether that ban comes to an end as scheduled or gets extended could very well depend on coach Eteri Tutberidze and the new doping scandal involving her 15 year old skater Kamila Valieva who tested positive for a banned substance prior to the Olympics.

Tutberidze is known for being very strict, quick to criticize, and focus on very young pre-teen and teen skaters who can perform jumps previously only seen by the male skaters. This year at the winter games in Beijing, her team of three female skaters was known as the “quad squad” since they all featured quadruple jumps in their routines.

As a result of Valieva’s positive test for a banned heart medication used to treat angina and viritgo, the Court of Arbitration for Sport met. At 15 Valieva is considered a “protected person” and was allowed to skate. A separate investigation will be conducted to determine who is responsible and whether any punishment will be handed down. All medals earned in any event where Valieva skated will be held over until after the completion of the investigation. That investigation is likely to include a close examination of how Tutberidze operates her figure skating regime.

With Eteri Tutberidze as her coach, Kamila Valieva became the first female ice skater to perform a quadruple jump in competition.

The investigation could also focus on Russian doctor Filipp Shvetsky who has already been banned from the Russian rowing team after a previous doping issue.

Valieva tested positive for the heart medication trimetazidine. In the CAS hearing she claimed that she took the drug by mistake; saying that the drug belonged to her grandfather. The drug “ increase blood flow efficiency and improve endurance”.

In her paperwork given to the IOC prior to the Olympics, Valieva listed two other oxygen enhancing drugs that are currently legal – L-carnitine and Hypoxen. The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency tried to have Hypoxen banned but failed. L-camitine is legal but only to a certain amount.

The issue of holding Olympic medals also affects the American team who won the silver medal in the team skating event.

The United States government recently passed a law that makes it a crime under U.S. law for doping schemes in international sporting events. Punishment includes a fine of up to $1 million and/or jail time up to 10 years. The law directly affects doctors and coaches who knowingly give performance enhancing drugs to their athletes and holds them accountable. The law was enacted after the doping scandal in Sochi.

The issue has sparked a debate as to whether the age limit should be raised for figure skaters and other athletes. The International Olympic Committee currently has no age limits for the athletes; however, there are a few sports that do impose minimum age limits including gymnastics – another sport that features teen aged performers – at 16.

Tutberidze once said, “when there are no difficulties, you can’t understand what happiness is.” While Tutberidze had skaters to win the gold and silver medals, it wasn’t without drama with one even saying that she hates the sport and will never skate again. After Valieva finished fourth, there was no happiness in the Russian skating camp.

The Russian ice skaters were not the only victims of numerous issues during these Olympic games, there were a number of incidents on the slopes including causing major risk of injury after forcing a snowboarder to cover her board due to a logo which also covered the wax needed on the board.

One team was disqualified due to their uniforms allegedly not conforming to requirements. And at one time during the competition, athletes on the snow faced brutal conditions of snow and winds.

There was even an issue in some of the judging.


feature photo credit: NBC Olympics Facebook page