AP

Lows far outweigh highs in Olympic figure skating program

Feb 19, 2022, 5:16 AM | Updated: 7:27 pm

Kamila Valieva, of the Russian Olympic Committee, competes in the women's free skate program during...

Kamila Valieva, of the Russian Olympic Committee, competes in the women's free skate program during the figure skating competition at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Thursday, Feb. 17, 2022, in Beijing. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

(AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)


              Vanessa James, back, and Eric Radford of Canada compete in the pairs team free skate program during the figure skating competition at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Monday, Feb. 7, 2022, in Beijing. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
            
              Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara, of Japan, compete in the pairs team free skate program during the figure skating competition at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Monday, Feb. 7, 2022, in Beijing. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
            
              Anastasiia Shabotova, of Ukraine, competes in the women's short program team figure skating competition at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Sunday, Feb. 6, 2022, in Beijing. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
            
              Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier, of the United States, compete in the pairs team free skate program during the figure skating competition at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Monday, Feb. 7, 2022, in Beijing. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
            
              Victoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapov, of the Russian Olympic Committee, compete in the team ice dance program during the figure skating competition at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Monday, Feb. 7, 2022, in Beijing. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
            
              Workers repair the ice before the men's free skate program during the figure skating event at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Thursday, Feb. 10, 2022, in Beijing. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
            
              Yuzuru Hanyu, of Japan, competes in the men's free skate program during the figure skating event at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Thursday, Feb. 10, 2022, in Beijing. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
            
              Oleksandra Nazarova and Maksym Nikitin, of Ukraine, perform their routine in the ice dance competition during the figure skating at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Monday, Feb. 14, 2022, in Beijing. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
            
              Madeline Schizas, of Canada, competes in the women's short program during the figure skating at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2022, in Beijing. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
            
              Peng Cheng and Jin Yang, of China, compete in the pairs short program during the figure skating competition at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Friday, Feb. 18, 2022, in Beijing. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
            
              Ashley Cain-Gribble and Timothy Leduc, of the United States, compete in the pairs short program during the figure skating competition at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Friday, Feb. 18, 2022, in Beijing. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
            
              Vanessa James and Eric Radford, of Canada, compete in the pairs short program during the figure skating competition at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Friday, Feb. 18, 2022, in Beijing. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
            
              Aleksandra Boikova and Dmitrii Kozlovskii, of the Russian Olympic Committee, compete in the pairs free skate program during the figure skating competition at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Saturday, Feb. 19, 2022, in Beijing. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
            
              Riku Miura and Ryuichi Kihara, of Japan, compete in the pairs free skate program during the figure skating competition at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Saturday, Feb. 19, 2022, in Beijing. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
            
              Gold medalists Sui Wenjing and Han Cong, of China, celebrate following the pairs free skate program during the figure skating competition at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Saturday, Feb. 19, 2022, in Beijing. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
            
              Sui Wenjing and Han Cong, of China, compete in the pairs free skate program during the figure skating competition at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Saturday, Feb. 19, 2022, in Beijing. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
            
              Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron, of France, perform their routine in the ice dance competition during the figure skating at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Monday, Feb. 14, 2022, in Beijing. (AP Photo/Bernat Armangue)
            
              From left, silver medalists Victoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapov of the Russian Olympic Committee, gold medalists Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron of France, and bronze medalists Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue of the United States, celebrate during a medal ceremony for the ice dance figure skating at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Monday, Feb. 14 2022, in Beijing. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)
            
              Nathan Chen, of the United States, reacts after the men's free skate program during the figure skating event at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Thursday, Feb. 10, 2022, in Beijing. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
            
              Gold medalist Nathan Chen of the United States stands for his national anthem during the medal ceremony for the men's free skate figure skating at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Thursday, Feb. 10, 2022, in Beijing. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
            
              Alexandra Trusova, of the Russian Olympic Committee, silver medalist in the women's free skate final, watches the pairs program during the figure skating competition at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Saturday, Feb. 19, 2022, in Beijing. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
            
              Kamila Valieva, of the Russian Olympic Committee, competes in the women's free skate program during the figure skating competition at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Thursday, Feb. 17, 2022, in Beijing. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
            
              Kamila Valieva, of the Russian Olympic Committee, reacts after competing in the women's free skate program during the figure skating competition at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Thursday, Feb. 17, 2022, in Beijing. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
            
              Nathan Chen, of the United States, competes in the men's free skate program during the figure skating event at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Thursday, Feb. 10, 2022, in Beijing. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)

BEIJING (AP) — There was a moment during practice for figure skating’s Olympic gala on Sunday when American gold medalist Nathan Chen and his good friend, Canada’s Keegan Messing, skated across the ice and popped a backflip in unison.

Now, backflips aren’t allowed in competition. They’re considered too dangerous. But they are allowed in exhibitions that are done purely for fun, and who didn’t need a little figure skating fun by the end of the Beijing Games?

After all, they are certain to be remembered for things decidedly un-fun.

There was Kamila Valieva, the overwhelming favorite to win women’s gold, tumbling to the ice during her free skate. If the hopes harbored by 15-year-old Russian, who spent her Olympics at the center of the latest doping scandal, weren’t crushed by her fourth-place finish, they were when she was criticized by her coach, Eteri Tutberidze.

There was her teammate, Anna Shcherbakova, who said she felt “emptiness inside” after winning the gold, and another Russian skater, Alexandra Trusova, who cried out that she would never set foot on the ice again after a silver medal that must have felt even more empty than Shcherbakova’s gold.

“I am not happy with the result,” Trusova said afterward. “There is no happiness.”

There also wasn’t a lot of happiness for the U.S. and Japanese teams, who earned silver and bronze medals, respectively, behind the Russian team. The International Olympic Committee refused to hold a medal ceremony for the event out of fear that the gold medal will ultimately be stripped from the Russians following a full doping investigation into Valieva and her entourage, resulting in the reallocation of the medals at some point in the future.

IOC president Thomas Bach offered the Americans and Japanese an Olympic torch as a placeholder memento, but that didn’t sit well with either team. U.S. skaters filed an emergency appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport on Saturday to have the medal ceremony in Beijing, but it was rejected without a reason given — though one is promised later.

“They should have a ceremony for the clean athletes that delivered,” said U.S. pairs skater Alexa Knierim, who performed with Brandon Frazier both of their programs in the team event. “They deserve that moment.”

There are highs and lows to every figure skating program at the Olympics. It’s only natural given the razor-thin margin — in the pairs event, it was 64 hundredths of a point — that often separates silver from gold. But the lows decidedly outweighed the highs in Beijing, where the International Skating Union was left to answer some serious questions.

Is it right for a 15-year-old such as Valieva, who is considered a minor by the Olympics but is competing at the senior level, to be subjected to the pressure and worldwide scrutiny that comes with performing at the Winter Games?

Is a convoluted scoring system that too often seems arbitrary and subjective, put in place after another scandal-plagued Olympic figure skating program in Salt Lake City in 2002, due for another massive overhaul?

And perhaps most importantly, should the Russian team — known here as ROC, which is short for Russian Olympic Committee — that has continued to flaunt Olympic drug testing protocols ever since the 2014 Sochi Games get to compete at all?

The last one is a question for the IOC, not figure skating, but it came to roost on the ice of Capital Indoor Stadium.

“On one hand, my heart breaks for (Valieva) because of the acts of the adults in her life and the failures of the Russian and IOC-run systems that permanently cast a dark cloud over her performances,” said Travis Tygart, the CEO of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. “On the other hand, all of us who value clean sport are sick to our stomachs because of these catastrophic failures that have tragically robbed clean athletes of their sacrifice and Olympic dreams.”

Despite all those head-shaking moments in the Beijing bubble, though, there were plenty of world records, broken barriers and soaring performances to stir the emotions of figure skating fans that stuck it out through the crud.

There was Chen, blasting off to “Rocket Man” on his way to ending a four-year redemptive quest for gold. French ice dancers Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron, who won a gold that likewise eluded them at the Pyeongchang Games. And the Chinese pairs team of Sui Wenjing and Han Cong, who gave the host nation a gold medal on Saturday night.

When their scores were read, Sui and Han leaped out of their seats to celebrate, and the carefully curated crowd of Chinese fans in the arena finally let loose the kind of exultant roar that had been missing for weeks in Beijing.

“We did our best and enjoyed this whole process. We’re happy about the score and the recognition of the spectators, and we made a world record,” Han said with a smile. “It’s important we caught the opportunity when we had it.”

___

More AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/winter-olympics and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

AP

Associated Press

Ex-Packer Guion gets 1 year for domestic violence assault

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Former Green Bay Packers defensive tackle Letroy Guion was sentenced to one year in jail after pleading no contest in a domestic violence assault at his home last fall. Brown County Circuit Court Judge Thomas Walsh also ordered Guion on Tuesday to serve three years’ probation and complete a domestic […]

1 year ago

Joe Jarzynka...

Associated Press

Durant eager for Suns debut vs. Hornets after knee injury

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Kevin Durant has been through quite a bit during his 15-year NBA career — but joining a new team midway through the season is a new one for the 13-time All-Star. The 34-year-old Durant doesn’t seem all that worried. Durant makes his highly anticipated Phoenix Suns debut on Wednesday night against […]

1 year ago

FILE - Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores stands on the sideline during the second half of an N...

Associated Press

Judge: NFL coach can press discrimination claims in court

NEW YORK (AP) — NFL Coach Brian Flores can pursue some of his discrimination claims against the league and its teams in court rather than through arbitration, a judge ruled Wednesday. The written decision by Judge Valerie Caproni in Manhattan was issued months after lawyers for the league tried to get the lawsuit moved to […]

1 year ago

Chicago Blackhawks goaltender Alex Stalock cools off in the first period during an NHL hockey game ...

Associated Press

Kane trade reinforces hard reality of Blackhawks rebuild

CHICAGO (AP) — After days of speculation, the harsh reality of the Chicago Blackhawks’ situation was reinforced by one move in a flurry of transactions ahead of the NHL trade deadline. Showtime is over, at least in Chicago, and a seemingly bright future is, well, way off in the distance. The reverberations of Chicago’s decision […]

1 year ago

FILE -  Yves Jean-Bart, president of the Haitian Football Federation, wearing a protective face mas...

Associated Press

Disgraced ex-Haitian soccer president announces he’s back

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Haiti’s former soccer federation president whose lifetime ban from sport over sexual abuse allegations was overturned last month announced Wednesday that he is reclaiming his position. Yves Jean-Bart’s defiant announcement could lead to a standoff with FIFA, which already has appointed an emergency management committee to lead the Haitian Football Association […]

1 year ago

FILE - Green Bay Packers' Aaron Rodgers walks off the field after an NFL football game against the ...

Associated Press

Rodgers says decision on future will come ‘soon enough’

GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Aaron Rodgers says he will make a decision on his future “soon enough” as the four-time MVP quarterback ponders whether to play next season and if his future remains with the Green Bay Packers. Rodgers, 39, discussed his future while speaking on an episode of the “Aubrey Marcus Podcast” that […]

1 year ago

Lows far outweigh highs in Olympic figure skating program