Putin’s Denial on Russia’s Valieva’s Drug Scandal is Criticized

Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva (Russia), nicknamed “Miss Perfect”. She challenged the Beijing Olympics as the most likely candidate for the gold medal, but was rocked by the doping problem and finished 4th in the competition.

In the midst of all this, Russian President Vladimir Putin praised Valieva, saying, “That perfect performance was not possible with banned substances.”

Such a two-shot must have a great political effect… (AFLO)

Valieva, born April 26, 2006 in Kazan, Russia, won the 2019 Junior Grand Prix Final and the 2020 World Junior Figure Skating Championships before entering the senior ranks in the 2021/2022 season. She suddenly won both Skate Canada and the Russian Cup in succession, both with the highest scores in the world. At the Russian Championships, she won for the first time, breaking her own world record by a wide margin despite not being recognized by the International Skating Union (ISU).

She also won the European Championships in January this year. Although she had no enemies on the way to the Beijing Olympics, she missed out on a medal, as mentioned above.

Of course, doping is a serious violation of the spirit of fair play. She was criticized by the world. On the other hand, some people questioned how well the 15-year-old could make decisions. As a result, she finished fourth in the individual competition and ended the Beijing Olympics in disappointment.

Then, her native Russia launched an invasion of Ukraine. As sanctions were imposed on Russia by the rest of the world, the sporting world also began to exclude Russia, and Russian athletes were excluded from the World Figure Skating Championships. This series of events raised concerns about her mental state.

In the midst of all this, an award ceremony for the medalists of the Beijing Olympics was held at the Kremlin in Russia. President Vladimir Putin attended the ceremony where nine Russian medalists, including Valieva, gathered. In his speech, he praised Valieva for “lifting sports to the level of real art.”

It may have been a slightly comforting moment for Valieva. However, in light of Russia’s current predicament, Putin told the country, “Russia is not to blame.” It is possible that he is using her to appeal to the public to unite the nation by saying, “Russia is not bad, and anything can be made to be Russia’s fault now.”

Valieva must have very mixed feelings right now about what the president said to her. We live in a very unpleasant time when political “value judgments” distort actual values and truth.