There has been no end to the hot takes since it was revealed that Kamila Valieva, a 15-year-old Russian figure skater, failed a drug test at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. The decision to allow Valieva to continue to compete, citing the “irreparable harm” it would cause her if she was prevented from doing so, has also provoked considerable comment.
Sarah Hirshland, the US Olympic and Paralympic CEO, said she was “disappointed by the message this decision sends”, and Adam Rippon, a former Olympic bronze medallist and skating coach, said it was “a complete slap in the face to every single athlete who comes here to compete clean”. To that he added, “The people around her completely failed her.”
Indeed. Writing in the Guardian, Sean Ingle honed in on this most vital issue. “As Global Athlete, a union that represents thousands of athletes, put it,” he wrote, “Valieva’s positive doping test appears clear evidence of abuse of a minor.” Reading the reports over the past week, even stronger words came to my mind: child trafficking.
