'Absolute chaos': CNN sports analyst reacts to Kamila Valieva ruling 

I can understand her not getting a medal, but for this to not allow anyone else not to get a medal is ridiculous.

Disaster. My heart breaks for the athletes who play by the rules, and for a 15 year old who was supposed to be guided and protected by trustworthy adults, and was not.

This is the end of the Olympics as we know/knew it. So sad...

The most pathetic part is taking take the medal ceremonies from all the other winners-that is a boneheaded decision

Why are the other athletes being punished by not being able to have a medal ceremony? She just shouldn’t be allowed to participate. Wtf

She is competing in the "Women's" category, that means she is competing as an adult. That is what a woman is, and adult. If she is going to get a pass because of being a child then compete in the Juniors, not in the Women's category.

I'm so tired of hearing about her age and because of that she is protected! She is competing against adults. Same rules need to apply to ALL ATHLETES!!

This is so wrong. ln 2018 a russian bobsled athlete tested positive for the same drug and was instantly disqualified. There should be NO difference in treatment. And it is not fair to every other skater who tests clean. The Russian federation will NEVER stop doping if there are no real punishments. l feel sorry for the girl, but no way she should be allowed to compete.

The Olympics are a joke. If you fail a drug test you don’t get to compete. End of story. This is ridiculous.

Yet they didnt let Richardson run because of weed. That isnt even a performance enhancing drug. So stupid.

This girl is infinitely talented. It sickens me that someone, somewhere is taking advantage of that for the purposes of their own benefit.

Why is Russia still allowed to compete in global sports? I have never gotten the point of the calling them "R.O.C" like it's still Russia🥴😂😂

Why can kids compete with adults with different rules. If your competing on a world stage why have different rules for different people.

“If you can’t trust what you’re watching, why watch.” Well said.

This is the craziest ruling I've ever heard of. The rule should be simple, if a person cheats, they get disqualified, and everyone who didn't cheat competes. If you want to allow her to skate, and even to get an unofficial score for it, fine. Then later if it turns out that the test was wrong, or whatever, fine, send her a gold medal.

She was tested clean just before the Olympics, before EC. And all the other times before that 25 december test. Obviously US media prefers to dish it this way, without saying all the other details, that the substance was in micro quantities, that it does not affect sports results, etc. So they insist that all these poor other athletes are somehow disadvantaged. I think they just can't live with the fact that russian ladies figure skaters are the best now.

Yuna Kim said via her Instagram today ; "Athlete who violates doping cannot compete in the game. This principle must be observed without exception. All players' efforts and dreams are equally precious."

So if she wins everyone loses their medals? How is that fair.

This girl has so much talent, she doesn't need help with drugs to win skating competitions. By allowing this to happen, the ROC did Kamila, and ultimately themselves, a huge disservice. I feel sorry for her, but not for those cheating Russian coaches. I also think the Olympic Committee is afraid of Russia and Putin, and that fear played a part in their decision to let her skate even though she tested positive for drugs.

Russia is responsible. The test is their responsibility. She does NOT skate. Not fair to the others to have no medal ceremony.

'its not okay to dope your adult athletes.. But acceptable to dope your child athletes' Makes sense.. 🙄

Wow completely ridiculous. She possibly did something wrong so they punish anyone competing in the same event??? How is that fair to anyone else and the years of work?

Wait so the other athletes can't get their medals?? That's not right!

Hypocrisy by any other name. Shame on the Olympic Committee. What message does it send other cheats?

This girl will always have a stain on her name, no matter how good of a skater she is

When a minor is competing at international level with all ages, should follow the same rules like others, if the Russian skater violated the rules, she should be disqualified to compete. Other athletes have been disqualified for the same medication. It is unfair for all the athletes and furthermore, holding the ceremony of those that played fair is even worst. Cheating is not acceptable no matter who did it. There is no excuse.

Thomas Bach's remarks are the pinnacle of hypocrisy. In this season, Kamila's doping test results were clean at four international competitions, but only the test for the Russian national competition showed polluted result. Therefore, this case required a thorough investigation and verification, but there was not enough time. As CAS rejected IOC's indictment to ban Kamila's participation in individual competition, the IOC should have announced that IOC would normally award medals for the results of the game, but that medal and record could be deprived if Kamila did intentional doping. The IOC's shocking announcement "If Kamila stands on podium, medal award ceremony would be canceled" must have acted as tons of pressure on Kamila, And this IOC's Threat made her step down from the podium by herself. As a result, the IOC brutally threatened a young girl under the age of 16 to take the bronze medal from Russia and give it to Japan. Furthermore this ultimately made it impossible to watch Kamila's performance in full of heavenly and mysterious beauty, which all figure fans around the world wanted to see. The IOC should take the greatest responsibility for this!

People are outraged over Kamila Valieva but they're not outraged over transwoman having an unfair advantage over biological women (there are obvious differences between males and females). Not to mention the hormone doping in order to 'qualify' as a 'woman' which is not only an insult but another unfair advantage (they get to dope but no one else does). The level of hypocrisy in sports is unbelievable.

You mean a Russian athlete tested positive for a banned substance. This has never happened before. I am shocked. 🤣🤣

If she wins she can't get a medal. Why allow her to compete ! 🤷🏽‍♂️

The test in question, was handed over on 25th December. According to records, it was 'documented' as arriving at the lab in Sweden on 19th January. (However a documented arrival date is just a documented date, it could have of course arrived much earlier but deliberately not been recorded). The results were given on 7th Feb, just within the 20 day allotted period. However, what the hell was happening with that 'supposedly' tamper free tube that was in WADA's possession for 25 days between 25th December and 19th Jan is anyone's guess.

If I were a judge at the Olympics -- I'd fail her on the technical performance, knowing she was drugged in advance. There is no other way to level the playing field, at this point.

What a great example for future skaters

But Sha'Carri can't run.... this is bs. I'm boycotting the next Olympics too.

I wonder if Shakarri Richardson has the right and ability to sue the Olympic committee for the unfair and unjust ruling.

Other athletes were suspended because their outfits were deemed illegal, but to fail a drug test and continue to compete is so unfair to ALL Olympic athletes and participating countries!

What a mess. An absolute disaster. She did not dope herself, yeah? What the heck, others cannot get their medals, either?

Russia, there is a reason the athletes of Russia can’t perform under the banner of the Russian flag

Maybe this could finally be a catalyst of having no one under the age of 17 yrs of age compete in the Olympics.

This is completely unacceptable. How could they allow someone who fail a drug test to compete in the olympics? The Olympics should be all about fairness and equality. She should have been disqualified immediately and have her medals taken away. That is only fair for all of the Olympians who participated fairly and openly.

How sad for the other legitimate winners.

These young athletes start getting tested years before they get to this stage. If she is testing positive, she and her coaches are very aware and they should be banned from competing.

Let me get this straight... The CAS decided a skater who was caught doping is allowed to compete, but if she "wins" a medal, then ALL of those who earned a medal do not get them?? So the others who earned a medal without doping are penalized because she doped??? WTH! This certainly points to how injustice is ingrained into the Olympics in skating competitions.

It's hilarious that people still think people are "clean" in professional sports.

This is horrible for the other athletes. Russia needs to be banned from future Olympics.

The fact that the Olympics takes place in countries which win the bidding, despite human rights abuses, makes the meaning of the organization pointless.

From the moment big money sponsors, cable tv contracts & bookies got involved with sports EVERY sport has been tainted 👁

The whole world should boycott the skating competition in this Olympics. IOC should be ashamed for this decision. It loses any credibility in the future.

This is so disturbing allowing her to play ruins the spirit of the games.

The main reason that she is allowed to compete was that the test result of the 25th December 2021 sample was handed in by WADA's ITA in Sweden only on the 8th of February 2022 to coincide with the Gold Award Winning Ceremony for the Russian team, that is 45 days after the test was taken and over 25 days days after the 20 day deadline for the result to be produced and presented according to WADA's own regulations. The reason why WADA drew that deadline for a sample test result to be handed in not later than 20 days is to lesson the possibility of tempering and or of contamination of the sample in question. So the Positive test result for a trace of a banned medication supplied on the 8th February 2022 cannot be validated since it was NOT Alina Valieva's fault that it was communicated late. Besides, all tests taken from Kamila Valieva's sample before the 25th of December 2021 and after the 25th of December 2021, including in January 2022 and during the Beijing Olympics all returned a NEGATIVE test result from the same anti-doping test agency in Sweden. Therefore, the freak positive test result of the 8th of February 2022 should be discarded for expiry of the set deadline of 20 days and Alina Valieva cannot be accused of having returned a positive test result to a banned medication. The IOC investigation should center about why the 25th December sample test result was supplied by the ITA in Sweden so late and whether there was malicious intent in timing the communication of the result to make it coincide with the Gold Medal Award Winning Ceremony for the Russian team.

Just imagine if this was 2002 or 2010. Could you imagine someone getting booed during a figure skating event?

The medal ceremony needs to happen for the silver and bronze winner standing on the podium. Without any one standing in the gold position…. Send that message!

What difference does her age matter? Her coaches/doctors gave her a banned drug; she should be OUT; disqualified. Let her parents/guardians address the drug with her coaches/doctors and let them face sanctions for cheating. Oh yeah, they are Russians.

How do you ruin the Olympics for other countries? Let one play by different rules.

Christine, it’s Val-i-e-va. I know you hate the Russians but at least learn to pronounce her name correctly. And, Christine, she IS 15, sorry it’s inconvenient and you think it’s ridiculous. As an American, am much more disgusted with the anti-Russian propaganda and sentiment in my country over the trace amount of a heart medication found in December. I stand with Kamila. ❤️💜💙

Way to go Olympic committee, on CAVING In, ONCE AGAIN!!!!!

They didn't allow shacari Richardson to run because she smoked a little weed yet this one was straight dopeing and is allowed to play maybe win against others who played by the rules!

*The moral cowardice on display is absolutely breathtaking!* *There is NO point of even watching the competition if cheating is allowed. State sponsored child abuse…* 🤦🏻‍♀️

As a former competitive ice skater, this is disgusting and criminal! I’m done with any Olympic’s! Sorry, but there are rules and each Country knows the ramifications!

Who else feels foolish after finding out that rules and laws are all an illusion?

All of the other skaters should refuse to skate. What is the point of doing everything right and busting your butt when Russia is going to cheat? They should stand down and refuse to compete. NBC would have to return ad buys for the competition and would then demand change from the IOC. Imagine the change that could create.

But Sha’Carri got the boot. Make it make sense. And marijuana is not performance enhancing.

Still don't get these 'This poor 15 year old didn't know what she took!' smh if you break the rules on purpose or by accident, you get punished. If you kill someone and say 'I didn't mean to kill the guy or someone made me kill em', you still get punished. Absolutely outrageous call by CAS.

The 4 important things we should pay attention in this Camila case are as follows. 1. In this season, during 4 months from the 2nd Grand Prix Skate Canada (Oct.29.2021) to Olympic, Camila's doping test results were all clean at 4 international competitions. 2. Only one doping test result for Russian national competition was more than 200 times polluted. 3. Why RUSADA requested doping test for domestic competition to Sweden and what was the reason such long time (6 weeks) needed for test & result publication? 4, Under the above situation, was IOC's action against Camila appropriate? Regarding 1 and 2, Camila was on the way of breaking new records during that period, so if she intentionally used drug to improve her performance, it was impossible unless she continuously used it, Therefore it is medically impossible to explain. And she has been negative at both the Euro Champ and the Olympics after Dec. 25, but she made an Olympic records again at team tournament. For 3, there are two possibilities. One possibility is that the Swedish lab made a technical error, and the other is that RUSADA got involved in a Russian internal dark fight and deliberately tried to swap samples to kill Camila and Etheri. It is up to you to decide which possibility is higher. What I'm going to focus on is about 4. Under situation of lack of convincing evidence and Camila's unacceptance of intentional doping, the IOC sued to CAS to disqualify her. However, the CAS dismissed the IOC's indict on the grounds that Camila was a child under the age of 16 and the principle of presumption of innocence, allowed her to compete in the individual competitions. This means not just let her go out on the ice, but let her normally can compete. So IOC should have announced that IOC would normally award medals for the results of the competition, but medal and record could be deprived if Camila's intentional doping definitely found out. However, IOC put tons of pressure on Camila with a shocking decision that "If Camilla is in the top three, the awards ceremony will be cancelled.", Eventually, this IOC's brutal threat forced her to step down herself from the podium. Furthermore this made it impossible to watch Camila's performance in full of heavenly and mysterious beauty, which all figure skating fans around the world wanted to see. And it could have been the greatest performance of her life. (I pray fervently to God that it won't be!) Camila is not only treasure of Russia but joy of all Figure skating fans around world who pursue perfect beauty! The IOC should kneel down and beg for forgiveness to her and to all figure skating fans around the world and take all responsibility!

This is why once again the Olympics shouldn't allow anyone under 18 to compete.

Nothing fair about this decision....so regardless of how good you are everybody rolls over for the cheaters .

She been tested positive from December sample (??), all tests negative during the Olympics games. She simply THE BEST in a WORLD!!!!

Sha'Carri Richardson was disqualified for smoking weed, why the hell is Kamila allowed to continue competing for actually doping?

She should be out! US should move up a medal. Why does it matter how old she is?! She qualifies in this category, she should be made to take responsibility. SO unfair to the other skaters.

Beyond belief. Im outraged that minors are allowed to compete in senior skating but not have any senior responsibility. She is a minor and needs protecting but isnt it time now to change the age limit to18 which will protect minors from harm and ensure all seniors take responsibility.

Having a heart condition is at risk skating. I want her medical records exposed because I'm not buying it!!

As though all our athletes aren't pumped full of chemistry too.

Why even allow her to compete if she can’t medal? There is no point.

Wait, why are we letting kids into the Olympics anyway?

I have discontinued watching the Olympics and will continue to do so until they are fair for everyone. I’m not sure that is even possible with a corrupt IOC along with people who simply don’t have the same standards of honesty and fair play.

If you can't trust what you are watching, why watch. That statement, said on this network, is priceless. LOL

So if Kamila skates and wins a medal, any other skater who gets a medal in that same event as well, won't get their medals during the Olympics. Yea that 15 year old has made enemy's for future Olympic games from here on out.

Ridiculous to cancel the whole medal ceremony though. Leave the 1st podium empty or disqualify the ROC team from medaling and redistribute the medals to athletes that complied with the rules and came to compete honorably. IOC needs to slap russia in the face not the wrist.

What about that Durham report?

I no longer have any respect for the CAS or the IOC. This sickens me.

While I feel sorry for her being misled by her coaches and trainers, it’s not right or fair to other skaters for her to compete. She used a substance that gave her an advantage over others, and cheaters should not be rewarded. It sets a bad precedent for future drug use.

It's pretty bad when the IOC is the vessel of credibility and fairness in the conversation....just sayin' Russia. I do feel bad for the athlete...she is clearly very talented but competes for a corrupt country and probably had little choice or say in the matter of this substance.

The guy toward the end is John McEnroe's younger brother.

Microdoses of this medicine can't affect the quality of her skating in any way. Today she is the best figure skater in history. If you understand something about figure skating, you can't deny it.

I haven't always agreed with Christine Brennan, but I agree 100% with her here. What a preposterous ruling... a slap in the face to every clean athlete at these Olympics, then also really unfair to the countries who have medals at stake in the team competition. What a mess.

It’s also very pitiful for her, but at the same time, it’s terrible for other figure skaters. I'm so sorry to her, but this is unfair to other athletes. I'm worried that this will hurt precious children. If this is mental and physical damage to the athletes, we no longer have any meaning of enjoying the Olympics. I hope no one gets hurt..😭

Olympic Games became garbage sink. As well as this western bullying of the Russian athletes… It’s disgusting and make me puke!

Give the medals to the other skaters!

Mr. Patrick really thought she could watch a 3 minute RU-vid video about the Russian ice skating culture and go on CNN to comment on it...

Where is Tanya Harding when we need her?!

The Olympics have become a complete joke. This decision is a total disgrace and slap in the face to every competitor, not just figure skaters. Russia makes me sick.

Am I the only one who thinks someone intentionally leaked the info in a timely manner to make someone else gold? I mean the top 3 are all Russian and from the same coach. They all must have used drugs. I feel this girl is actually a victim of someone.

Sha’Carri Richardson was banned for Marijuana, a non performance enhancing drug. Double standards 😡

The IOC needs to step up and really bring down the hammer on Russia. No more of these polite slaps on the wrist. It's time for some real accountability and sanctions.

My heart goes out to all of these girls as they have worked their whole lives for this, to stand on the podium and be presented with their medals , it is heartbreaking for these girls

I have yet to hear how the substance she tested positive for can give her an advantage on the ice. This has nothing to do with her technical ability and her endurance at 15 years of age is not even a question. Can we be serious?

She's a 'professional' skater; 15 years old or not. She is at work. It's a banned substance. Too bad. So sad. She cheated, on purpose or not.

The Olympics as a whole is a shitshow this year

The only difference between the US and UK doping programmes and the Russian doping programme is that the US and UK privatised theirs.

THE GREATEST SCANDAL OF THIS SPORT 🤢