Skating fails, another Russian disgrace

The United States won a gold medal last week in the women's figure skating team event from their performance at the 2022 Olympics in Beijing, China. No, it did not take that long for the judges to score; It just took that long for the Court of Arbitration for Sports to uphold a four-year ban on a young Russian skater for a doping violation that occurred weeks before the 2022 Winter Olympic competition.There is something wrong when the results of an international sports event in February 2022 are finally resolved in January of 2024. There is also something wrong with the private records of a 15-year-old being opened to the public. Finally, there is clearly serious wrong in deciding to commit a doping violation and then compete in an international sports event. The case of Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva is sad and yet, it speaks volumes about the pervasive disregard for ethics in a country that has amassed a reputation for corruption and crimes against humanity behind a cruel and cunning totalitarian leader. The IOC has denied international participation privileges to innocent Russian athletes as punishment for the country's invasion of Ukraine. The current sanction for Russia was imposed just after another ban was lifted for the country's long-standing state-sponsored systematic doping practices stemming from at least the 2014 Sochi Olympics. This skating case personifies three blatant violations of basic ethical principles:1. Kamila and her entourage should never have committed a doping violation even if the infraction was an innocent mix-up with her grandfather's medication to treat angina. Doping provides an unfair competitive advantage and is ethically, morally, and legally wrong. Russia obviously did not change its practices from the 2014 ban imposed on its athletes for the state-sponsored doping scandal…a 10-year learning curve failure.2. Kamila's age at the time of discovery should have guaranteed the youth's confidentiality by the World Anti-doping Agency (WADA) and the international media. Her status as a minor did permit Russia to skate her in an individual event as a "protected individual" who cannot be held responsible for a failed doping test. Respecting the rights of a minor is a legal obligation, yet child actors and elite athletes face challenges due to the publicity attached to their profession. Fame wins over the law and creates a fishbowl life for Kamila.3. The declaration of the winner of the women's team figure skating competition at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics should not be delayed by almost two years. The U.S. Constitution guarantees due process which means a legal case must be resolved in a timely manner after a full and fair review process. Of course, Kamila's case is international and maybe it is just wishful thinking for complex scenarios, but there still should be a time-sensitive process for discovery, investigation, judicial decision, and appeal that does not drag out two years. Congratulations on the win, USA….finally.There is so much right with international competition at the highest level – but there is also so much wrong which is evident in the case of this Russian teenager surrounded by an entourage responsible for developing peak performance at the precise time in a country proud of its Machiavellian philosophy where the ends can always justify the means. There are so many layers to the case and questions to ask. For one, how culpable was Kamila in her doping violation, and would she have still been the first female to land that quadruple jump if she were drug-free? She now holds a Barry Bonds record - what does her future hold after being scorned, scared, and ostracized from the sport? Mental health is universal – no one is immune. Will the international sanctions on Russia persisting since the Sochi Olympics and extending through at least Paris 2024 have any impact on the future behavior of a country as long s Vladimir Putin is at the helm? Olympic gold medalist Tara Lapinski, a U.S. skater who shared an eye-opening story of the pressures faced by children training for elite competition, has suggested that the adults around Kamila should have made better decisions in guiding her preparation. Safe Sport is an independent U.S. nonprofit organization with a $21 million budget to protect athletes, primarily youth, from sexual abuse. Perhaps the organization can expand its mission to address the more prevalent issue of mental and emotional health in athletes. Instead of serving 8,000 athletes per year, it can use part of the millions it has been granted to reach 80,000 or more athletes - or more!Too bad Kamila isn't a citizen in the U.S., she would have least been able to sue in the land of the free.Stay tuned for a future sports story reaching beyond international borders, across the United States, somewhere within the state, or right here in the great community of Tiffin, Ohio.