Let's talk some bool-sheet

[minx]

Russian figure skater tests positive for a banned substance, but the results of her test are conveniently withheld until after the team competition.
Russia claims their federation investigated the test results and cleared her to go to the Olympics, even though they didn't mention any of this in advance.

Now she's being cleared to compete in the finals, even though a full investigation into whether or not she's clean had been completed.  Why?  Because she's 15, and as a minor couldn't have knowingly taken a banned substance.

I call bullshit on this.  Did she go out on her own and get this drug?  Of course not!  Did she take it willingly knowing what it was?  I find that hard to believe as well.
Did her coaches give her a banned substance knowing fully well what it was - you're damned straight they did!

I do feel sorry for her, but IMO, she should be disqualified.  She tested positive for a banned substance - doesn't matter if she took it knowingly or not.  I'd personally like to see a rule instituted saying that if you coach an underaged athlete who tests positive that you get banned as well.

The Olympics have gone so far past the point of corruption that there's no sense at all in them.  In a good world, no one would bid for them, or compete in them any longer.  But we all know that will never happen.

[Dave's Not Here Man]

I saw the part where she can compete but if she places in the top 3 they won't have a medal ceremony? WTAF? LOL.

[minx]

And they haven't held the medal ceremony for the team skate because her status is in question - in the women's (and I use that loosely, since this girl is the oldest expected to medal at 15 years old), all of the Russians are expected to win, but in the team skate, the other countries who won are being screwed out of a medal ceremony because of this.

Just not right. But then again, very little about this particular Olympics is 'right'.

[bobathon]

She was found to have taken performance enhancing drugs. They should boot her out, harder than Sha'Carri Richardson was (for the demon weed). But there's, you know, all the corruption.

[minx]

I see a lot of comparisons to Richardson, but they're not equal.

First off, Richardson was booted at a national level - she wasn't allowed to compete at the Olympic trials by US track and field - the IOC had nothing to do with her suspensions or ban.
Valieva was not only allowed to keep competing, but the governing body of her sport in Russia covered up her positive test result.

So not racism, but the clear result of one country following the rules and a second country ignoring them. The IOC could have held up Richardson as an example of someone who broke the rules, had the proper sanctions applied and abided by them to show Russia how it's supposed to be done, but chose not to. Because Putin paid them too much money to get the Olympics in Sochi and they haven't forgotten.

The latest is that Valieva's attorney says her grandfather was taking the banned medication for heart issues, and she might have been cross-contaminated because she drank from a glass that he used. Wow. Just wow.

[Dave's Not Here Man]

That sounds like the phrase about the cheating wife- "she slipped and fell on his dick".

[minx]

When I worked for a pediatrician, we had a mom who's baby tested positive for coke.
She tried to say that she hadn't been using, but her baby daddy was, and she must have ingested some when she kissed him.

For some strange reason CPS didn't believe her. For an even stranger reason, it's not against VA law to have your newborn test positive for illegal substances at birth.
Took CPS a year to get that baby and his brother out of the household - they finally got her on truancy, since the brother missed 40 days of school with no valid excuse.

I did ask the caseworker, and she said it's not all that easy to take custody of a kid as people think. On a weird coincidence, grandma got custody of the elder brother and he ended up in the same elementary school as my kids. She didn't know who I was, but mentioned that mom had been stripped of all custody of both kids. Caseworker never gave up - kept on making numerous unannounced visits and did everything within the law she could to protect those kids, but every time she showed up, the house was reasonably clean, kids were reasonably clean, and mom appeared to be sober. Older kid always said things were fine of course. Wasn't until they were able to remove them that the older kid finally could tell the truth about what was going on, and it was a true horror story.

I think of those kids a lot - custody of the eldest went to the grandparents of mom, and custody of the baby went to baby daddy #2. Grandma was trying to arrange some sort of visitation with baby daddy #2 so the boys could see each other, and it was rough going. A very, very sad story.

[bobathon]

The comparison I'm making is that they both had banned substances and one of them got punished and the other got a free pass. Corrupt AF. Nobody accidentally took Grampa's heart meds, they're cheating.

[minx]

I don't disagree that Valieva was doping, but the difference is that she is a minor, and Richardson is not.
And Richardson fully admitted to using weed, and knowing it was a banned substance at the time.

Valieva has said that she did not deliberately take any banned substances, and so she is owed a full investigation. And because she's a minor, there are extra hoops to go through for her protection. And the governing body of the sport in her country is backing her 100% in saying she's as innocent as the driven snow.

So yeah, apples and oranges on that front. And I'm in no way saying the IOC or any international body is doing their proper job here.

Will be interesting to see what happens seeing as Valieva finished fourth and out of medal contention last night. The investigation continue to go on - wonder if the IOC will just sweep it under the rug.
And I do have some pity for Valieva - she lives in a communist country, and I'm sure that she didn't have any choice in taking this drug. And then they trotted her out and forced her to say the ridiculous lie that she accidentally took it when she drank from grandpa's glass.

This was supposed to be her shining moment, and I doubt she'll ever be heard from (much less compete) again. Plus, you know that her coach has completely thrown her under the bus, so she'll also become the face of Russia's embarrassment and her family's shame. And that's pretty sad considering she's only 15. Can't help thinking of all the East German athletes who were taken from their families at young ages and injected with all sorts of shit for the motherland's glory.

[bobathon]

Russia itself is banned from the Olympics for state sponsored doping. Now the athletes are under a supposedly neutral sporting organization. They don't use the Roosky flag or anthem, but apparently nothing else has changed. So yes, unfortunate for the exploited child athletes, but where I come from, cheating is cheating.