BEIJING, China — One of the marquee events of the Beijing Olympics could end with one of the most awkward moments in the history of the Games if Russian teenage sensation Kamila Valieva finishes in the top three in women’s figure skating.
Valieva is the overwhelming favorite to win the competition at Capital Indoor Stadium on Thursday night. Because Valieva is at the center of a doping scandal, the International Olympic Committee has decided there will be no flower or medal ceremony if she places among the top three skaters. The IOC fears she could someday be stripped of her medal.
Valieva will skate last in the field of 25 based on her top score of 82.16 in the short program on Tuesday night.
And then … nothing if she finishes in a podium position. No Bing Dwen Dwen, the stuffed panda mascot that all medalists receive, and no medals.
Valieva, 15, put a jolt into the Beijing Games when she landed the first quadruple jumps by a woman at the Olympics and helped the Russians win the gold medal in the team event.
Her free skate was expected to be even more impressive, with three attempts at the four-revolution jumps. She picked “Bolero” as her music and a blazing red and black dress.
Valieva tested positive for a banned heart medication at the Russian championships in December. But the result wasn’t announced until last week, shortly after the team event.
She was cleared to compete earlier this week by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which ruled among other things that she had protected status as a minor and would suffer “irreparable harm” if she was not allowed to perform. The court did not rule on the full scope of the case, leaving that to a more comprehensive investigation later.
“There will be an asterisk against the results, because they will be preliminary obviously pending the investigation,” IOC spokesman Mark Adams said. “Would we prefer not to have all this going on? Absolutely.”
IOC President Thomas Bach was expected to skip the free skate competition. He has offered Olympic torches to the U.S. figure skaters who won team silver medals as a holdover gift while they await the resolution of the doping case, The Associated Press learned late Wednesday.