by Brayden Yee and Erin Guo
As the 2022 Winter Olympics have now ended, we are looking back at the many controversies surrounding the games. While China hosting the Olympics was immediately controversial, none expected the Russian doping scandal of 15-year-old Russian ice skater Kamila Valieva nor the backlash towards Chinese American athletes representing China.
Valieva entered the competition as the front runner and was the main athlete involved in the scandal. Many are comparing her case to American track and field runner Sha’carri Richardson. While Valieva did not medal in her individual event, she did earn a gold medal in a team event. Her gold medal is currently pending the conclusion of a World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) investigation to determine if her team can keep their medals.
Valieva tested positive for trimetazidine, a banned substance according to the WADA. Her lawyers argued that the reason she tested positive for the drug was because of a contamination with her grandfather's medication. They argued that her grandfather used trimetazidine and it contaminated the legal substances that Valieva used.
The drug is used to help the heart, however, it also can increase blood flow and endurance, leading to it being classified as performance-enhancing. While the drug has not been tested on athletes, the consensus is that the drug improves performance by a very small amount. Dr. Anton Rominow stated that the effect of the drug on an elite athlete would be “smaller than small.” He did however acknowledge that athletes would be competing for any advantage, no matter how small it is.
Judge Denis Oswald, who previously presided over previous Russian doping cases, stated that the lawyers raised doubts about Valieva’s guilt, leading three Court of Arbitration (CAS) judges to allow her to continue competing.
Trimetazidine isn’t new to the Olympics either; in 2014, Chinese Swimmer Sun Yang served a 3-month ban after testing positive for the drug. This was Yang’s first offense. Russian bobsledder Nadezhda Sergeeva also tested positive for the drug during the 2018 Olympics, resulting in a ban from the two-woman bobsled event and an 8-month suspension.
The case surrounding Valieva has been compared to that of Sha’carri Richardson, who was unable to compete in the 2021 Summer Olympics due to her testing positive for cannabis in her system. This resulted in her being ineligible for the 100m final in the U.S Olympic trials and later the Olympics. She later accepted a 1-month suspension in July 2021. Richardson’s case has been compared to Valieva due to her also being a front-runner in the Olympics, but not being able to compete because of a positive test.
There was also controversy over American-born athletes who competed for China during the Olympics. Specifically, Eileen Gu, a free-style skier, and figure skater Zhu Yi, who were both born in the U.S.
Although being born in the U.S, both decided to embrace their Chinese heritage and represent the host nation at the Olympics. For their decisions, they’ve received intense backlash and varying reactions. Several conservative commentators have called Gu a traitor and accused her of competing for Chinese money. Social media platforms were also quick to call Yi out for the use of nepotism to qualify over a Chinese-born athlete on China’s team and her inability to speak fluent Mandarin while representing China.
Despite both receiving backlash for their decisions, there was a stark contrast between the two for their performances. Gu won her gold medal in the big air competition and was overwhelmingly praised by the Chinese internet. She is also very popular in Chinese media and was even praised for her Beijing accent. On the other hand, Yi was attacked by critics when she crashed into a wall and fell several times during the programs. China was placed fifth in the competition and Yi finished in last place.
edited by William Cao and Vishal Krishnaiah
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