Teen Russian skating phenom leaves Olympics empty handed

Kamila Valieva of Russia cries after failing to medal in free skate at the 2022 Beijing Olympics.  The athlete, 15, was the top ranked woman in the sport at the time.

After all the drama surrounding her participation amid doping charges, Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva was allowed to compete in the Beijing Winter Olympics., but failed to place. She was ranked fourth in the free skating finals. During her performance she fell several times and awaited the results in tears.

A look for The young star was left to face the scandal and the world alone as no adults took responsibility for the scandal. When she skated off her coach did not immediately comfort her,

Russian Olympic Committee's Anna Shcherbakova and Alexandra Trusova claimed gold and silver with Japan's Kaori Sakamoto taking the bronze medal.

The International Olympic Committee had determined it would not award any medals from competitions involving Valieva who ranked the highest and was expected to win the gold medal again. The 15-year-old's test results were revealed after she led her team to the gold medal last week.

"There's no question that our team wants to go home with the medals in their hands," CEO Sarah Hirshland told The Associated Press in a video interview Thursday from Beijing. "That's just a reality we're all dealing with right now."

Many supporters of ShaCarri Richards, the American sprinter who was ousted from the 2021 Tokyo Summer Games for doping said there was a double standard in the treatment of the athletes and Valieva should not have been permitted to participate.