Fifteen-year-old figure skater Kamila Valieva was met with loud cheers and applause at Moscow's Sheremetyevo Airport as she returned to Russia on Friday after the Beijing Olympics.
The mask-wearing teenager, who has been through emotional hell at the Olympics and repeatedly fell during her performance at a women's single event on Thursday, refused to talk to reporters at the airport.
As part of the Russian national team, Valieva, a Russian and European figure-skating champion, received 90.18 points, breaking the Olympic record. In the free programme, the Russian skater performed a quadruple salchow, as well as a quadruple toe-loop with a combination with triple toe-loop, gaining 178.92 points. She became the first female figure skater in history to land a quad jump at the Olympics. Just days later, a British media outlet Inside the Games claimed that the Word Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)-accredited laboratory in Stockholm returned "positive" results of Valieva's "A-sample" test collected on 25 December.
The results of the 25 December doping test came back after a vast 45-day time window between the dates the sample was taken and published. The lab claimed that the reason for the delay was a surge in coronavirus cases among staff and quarantine rules.
The Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) provisionally suspended the teenager, but soon lifted the ban. The the International Olympic Committee (IOC), WADA, and the International Skating Union (ISU) appealed RUSADA's decision to lift a provisional doping suspension of Valieva, but the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) allowed her to continue competing in the Olympics, citing potential damage to the girl who is a minor and therefore considered a "protected person" under the World Anti-Doping Code.
The Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) provisionally suspended the teenager, but soon lifted the ban. The the International Olympic Committee (IOC), WADA, and the International Skating Union (ISU) appealed RUSADA's decision to lift a provisional doping suspension of Valieva, but the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) allowed her to continue competing in the Olympics, citing potential damage to the girl who is a minor and therefore considered a "protected person" under the World Anti-Doping Code.
The IOC responded to the ruling by saying that Valieva and her teammates would not have a medal ceremony at the Games should they win gold.
On Thursday, Valieva, who had been under constant pressure from the media and sports agencies, came fourth in the women's single event at the Beijing Games on Thursday, finishing with a total score of 224.09. The teenager, who landed the opening quad, but then repeatedly slipped and fell, managed to keep her composure through the performance, but eventually broke down in tears as she headed towards the exit.