Plushenko supported figure skater Valieva, calling her a “unique and inimitable” athlete

Two-time Olympic champion, figure skating coach Evgeni Plushenko supported Russian Kamila Valieva after her unsuccessful performance in the individual championship at the Beijing Olympics.

“Kamilochka, hold on, sometimes you have to fall in order to take off very strongly in the future! You have gone through a lot of pressure and stress, but you are a very big athlete who is loved by the whole world! Unique and inimitable!” Plushenko stressed on his Instagram.

At the same time, he also believes that “Valiyeva could not cope with her nerves.” “During these days, such a pressure has fallen on Camila that not every man can stand it. What can we say about a 15-year-old girl … However, it seems to me that another thing also influenced – she went out on the ice after the amazing skates of Sasha Trusova and Anya Shcherbakova, ”Plushenko quotes Sport-Express.

For her part, two-time Olympic medalist, two-time world champion Irina Slutskaya, commenting on Valieva’s performance in the individual tournament at the 2022 Games, said that the athlete is the “hero of the Olympics.”

Recall that Kamila Valieva, who is under investigation in connection with the violation of anti-doping rules, unsuccessfully (twice fell) performed a free program and took only fourth place. For the rental, the skater received 141.93 points. In terms of total performance, the Russian woman scored 224.09 points, although she was in the lead in individual competitions after the short program. At the same time, Valieva won a gold medal in the team tournament at the Beijing Games.

Earlier it became known that the doping test of the Russian figure skater, taken on December 25, 2021 (before the start of the Beijing Olympics) at the Russian Championships, which was held in St. Petersburg, tested positive for the banned cardiac drug trimetazidine. After that, the athlete was conditionally suspended by the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA). However, Valieva protested the suspension, and on February 9, RUSADA decided to lift it. The International Olympic Committee appealed this decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), but it was not granted.

And already today, Channel Five notes, CAS has published a conclusion on the doping case of Kamila Valieva. In an official statement, officials acknowledged the version that the banned drug could have entered the body of a Russian woman by accident. In addition, taking trimetazidine for figure skaters is absolutely useless, because it does not affect sports performance in any way.