Unpopular Decision Sometimes the Right One

Unpopular opinion No. 1: last night's halftime show wasn't the "greatest ever," as so many on social media were quick to proclaim.  Sorry!  Maybe because it's not my type of music, but I didn't enjoy it at all.  And I'm a child of the 90s, too!

Now it's time for unpopular opinion No. 2: I agree with the CAS's decision to let Kamila Valiyeva skate in the women's event.  I said a few days ago that I think she should be allowed to skate, and I'm glad that she will be.  All signs pointed towards it, too, so I'm not sure why so many people are surprised and/or disappointed about the ruling.  Actually, yes I am.  It's because she's Russian.

This story has dominated the first week of the Olympics, which is as unfair to Valiyeva as it's unfortunate.  Like the Djokovic vaccine thing, it took on a life of its own.  And like the Djokovic vaccine thing, it's not as simple as either side would like it to be.  Of course, the biggest difference is that Djokovic wasn't allowed to compete while Valiyeva is.

In both cases, the timing is the real issue.  The test result in question is from the Russian Championships on Christmas Day.  The samples were sent to a lab in Sweden (because no Russian labs are currently WADA-accredited), which took six weeks! to process the results.  Because of that delay, Valiyeva's provisional suspension wasn't announced until February 7, after she'd already competed in the team event.

Ordinarily, when someone fails a doping test, there's an investigation followed by an appeal before they even announce their findings and any sanctions.  Sometimes the process takes so long that athletes will have already served their suspension before it's even made public!  But, since the Olympics had already started, none of that could be done.  They certainly didn't have time for the standard due process.  Instead, they threw a 15-year-old to the wolves (aka the anti-Russia Western media).

That's an important point worth noting too.  Valiyeva is 15!  She's a minor!  As a minor, she's considered a "protected person" who's treated differently under WADA code.  She'll ultimately be held responsible for whatever went into her body (as she should be), but the penalty will likely be less severe than it would be for an adult.  Her entourage will also be heavily scrutinized.  Because what's more likely?  She decided to take heart medicine on her own or someone she trusted gave it to her?

Western media, predictably, jumped on the fact that she's Russian and used that to create their narrative.  If she was from any other country, Valiyeva would be given the benefit of the doubt.  But since she's Russian, she's automatically guilty.  It's obvious, so there's no need to even investigate!

Russia has obviously had a ton of problems.  That's why they're competing as "ROC" for the second consecutive Olympics right now.  Have they learned their lesson?  Maybe, maybe not.  But situations like this aren't helping matters and they have to know that!

The West, which has been out for blood ever since Sochi, views Valiyeva being allowed to compete as "yet another example" of the powers-that-be "going easy" on Russia.  Except this case might not even be related to the state-wide doping scandal that led to the IOC suspension and "OAR" and "ROC" designations!  We won't know until they complete their due process, which they need time to do!  (Also, how exactly is this "going easy" on Russia?  After they finish their investigation, if sanctions are warranted, they'll issue them.  All they're saying is that this isn't the appropriate time, especially since Valiyeva hasn't even had the chance to mount any sort of defense.)

Perhaps anticipating a ruling against Valiyeva after the investigation is done, the IOC (which advocated for the suspension) has said that there won't be a medals ceremony for the team event in Beijing.  There won't be one for the women's event, either, if she medals (which is likely).  They've also asked the ISU to allow an extra skater to qualify for the free skate in case she's DQed.

One of the reasons given in the CAS decision was that not letting her compete would do "irreparable harm."  Which is 100 percent true.  Say the investigation clears her and her Olympic opportunity had been taken away.  How would that have been fair to her?  Meanwhile, if it's ultimately determined that she shouldn't have been eligible, they can simply remove her from the results and reallocate medals accordingly (which I think is one of the reasons they're not having medals ceremonies for her two events).  That's not ideal.  But it's certainly the better of the two options.

Of course, none of that is good enough for the holier-than-though folks at the USOPC and USADA, who put out their typical sanctimonious statements about how the CAS's ruling is a "slap in the face to clean sport."  Meanwhile, if Valiyeva was American, their reaction would be exactly the opposite!  Remember the outrage about Sha'Carri Richardson's suspension for smoking pot at Olympic Trials last year?!  And don't get me started on Shelby Houlihan!

If the shoe was on the other foot, you can bet the USOPC would be doing everything in their power to make sure she was treated fairly!  As any nation would (and should).  But since big, bad Russia is involved, their athletes shouldn't be afforded that same right to due process?  Again, put the shoe on the other foot.  This is the country whose entire criminal justice system is based on the premise of "innocent until proven guilty."  Which apparently doesn't apply if you're Russian!

Then there's Tara and Johnny.  In the team event, they couldn't stop gushing about Valiyeva and her quads.  They kept calling her the "best ever."  Not even a week later, they're saying how disappointing the ruling was and that the decision to let her skate leaves a "black mark on our sport."  When we don't even have all the facts yet.  Come on!

And who's to say what benefit Valiyeva even got from it?  Is that the reason she was landing all those quads?  How much was even in her system?  Was it a trace amount, barely enough to trigger a positive test?  Also, why did it take the Swedish lab so long to process the results?  Was her B sample also positive?  And how come she's never failed a test before this (that we know of...again, as a minor, her results aren't supposed to even be made public)?

So many questions in this case still need to be answered.  Which is why the decision to let her compete was really the only one that could be made.  There are obviously a lot of people who aren't happy about it, but that was gonna be the case either way.  So, maybe instead of making a 15-year-old the villain, we should sit back and let it all play out first.