Russian gymnastics boss ‘predicted’ Beijing skating scandal after Tokyo controversy
Legendary coach Irina Viner-Usmanova said she had foreseen turbulent times for the national figure skating team after Russia was left without gold in rhythmic gymnastics at the Tokyo Games for the first time in 20 years.
Last summer, the hot favorite to take the Olympic rhythmic gymnastics all-around crown, Dina Averina, sensationally lost to Israel’s Linoy Ashram, triggering questions over fair judging. Ashram won the gold despite dropping her ribbon during one routine.
The three-time world all-round champion Averina, who burst into tears after learning the results of the final, was distraught at the judging while there was widespread criticism elsewhere.
Explaining the disappointing results at the Olympic tournament, Viner-Usmanova claimed that the International Gymnastic Federation (FIG) had decided to end Russia’s lengthy dominance in rhythmic gymnastics, which lasted for five Olympic cycles.
Viner-Usmanova has now commented on the row surrounding Russian figure-skating star Kamila Valieva at the Beijing Winter Games – where the 15-year-old is the strong favorite for gold – saying it also part of a campaign to undermine Russia’s leading sporting positions.
“I predicted this situation at the Olympics, saying that figure skating would be the next sport on the program,” Viner-Usmanova said.
“At the Summer Games, we were hit because it was necessary for Great Britain to bypass Russia (in the medal standings), and now it’s Kamila, the most beautiful thing we have in winter sports.
“Even [actor Alec] Baldwin wrote that this girl embraces all the beauty of the world.”
The coach, who has led dozens of Russian gymnasts to Olympic prominence, compared Valieva’s Olympic controversy with one of the biggest rows that ever occurred in gymnasts, when Russian leaders Alina Kabaeva and Irina Tchachina were slapped with bans.
The scandal took place in 2001, when the two top gymnasts tested positive for diuretic furosemide and received a two-year ban for the violation. Their medals from the 2001 world championship were annulled as well.
The athletes returned to the international arena in style, winning all the global events they appeared at. Kabaeva crowned her illustrious career with an Olympic gold medal at the Athens Olympics, where Tchachina earned silver.
“Alina Kabaeva faced the same situation. She performed at the Goodwill Games at her [Valieva’s] age. She drank supplements containing furosemide to lose weight and three months later she competed at the world championship where she won,” Viner-Usmanova added.
“And only then the data was published confirming that she had a prohibited drug in her probe. She was removed for two years.
“There is another example which took place at the Summer Olympics in Tokyo, it happened, and as I said, beware. It is a glaring fact that she has not been told anything since December, and when she performed at the Olympic Games, her positive doping test was revealed.”
Valieva found herself at the center of a doping row after a test she took in December came back positive.
It took the WADA-accredited laboratory in Sweden more than a month and a half to report the results of her test, with the revelation being announced on February 8, a day after Valieva helped Russia to clinch gold in the team event.
After several days of uncertainty and doubt, the skater was finally approved for the singles competition in Beijing by a panel specially appointed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) said it will not hold a ceremony if Valieva wins a medal in women’s skating, as the investigation regarding her failed test continues.
