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sports Diaranson 16 Februari 2022

Valieva skates into first place after Olympic short program

(AP) — Kamila Valieva place. “I would like to refrain
skated off the Olympic ice from answering that ques- The Court of Arbitration
with the lead in the wom- tion. Right now I would just for Sport ruled that Valieva
en’s short program and like to focus on my own per- should be allowed to com-
tears in her eyes. formance.” pete while anti-doping of-
ficials conduct a full investi-
They were not tears of joy. Shcherbakova, the reigning gation — in part because she
world champion, was second is a minor and is subject to
The enormous pressure and with 80.60 points after a clean different rules from an adult
scrutiny on the 15-year-old program. Sakamoto’s score athlete.
Russian dynamo, who is at of 79.89 points broke up the
the center of the latest Olym- “Quad Squad” with Trusova, Lawyers for Valieva also
pic doping scandal, appeared who fell on her opening tri- “brought some doubts about
to finally get to her Tuesday ple axel, in fourth with 74.60. her guilt,” veteran IOC
night. Despite an incredible member Denis Oswald said
performance by the standards “I think that everything was Tuesday. Russian lawyers
of just about anyone else, Va- like always, like every com- speculated that the sample Chen advanced to the free and her triple lutz-triple toe
lieva could hardly hold it to- petition,” Shcherbakova said. may have been contaminated skate. “That’s the whole idea loop, and she received Level
gether while she awaited her “I didn’t feel anything differ- by medicine her grandfather of the Olympics and our ca- 4 marks on the rest of her
scores. ent from other competitions, was taking. reers, in general.” program to climb into first
and it was really controlled place.
She wound up earning 82.16 (and) focused.” In her only comments since Valieva and her teammates
points, more than eight off the drug test surfaced, Valieva had plenty of support from “The (Russian) girls are such
her own world record, but The trio of Russian women, told Russian state broadcaster the carefully curated crowd that nothing would have
more than enough to top all coached by the embattled Channel One on Monday inside Capital Indoor Stadi- helped them if they didn’t
teammates Anna Shcherba- Eteri Tutberidze, are trying night that “these days have um. There were even several have that kind of talent,”
kova and Alexandra Trusova to deliver the second podi- been very difficult for me. fans waving Russian flags, said Anastasiia Shabotova,
as they go for a Russian sweep um sweep in Olympic figure I’m happy but I’m tired emo- which the team can’t use at who was born in Moscow
of the podium. skating and the first in the tionally.” Olympics as punishment but competes for Ukraine.
women’s competition. The from the country’s state- “It’s just funny to even think
Valieva did not speak after- free skate is Thursday night. Valieva said the entire process sponsored doping scheme at about it. They’re just talented
ward, walking through the had taught her that adult life the 2014 Sochi Games. and do a lot of work.”
mix zone of reporters in stoic For the last week, Valieva’s “can be unfair to some ex-
silence. The Russian Olym- positive drug test from an tent.” There also were plenty of Valieva had looked calm and
pic Committee also declined event in December has fans that sat stoically in the confident during her warm-
to bring her to the news con- shrouded the competition in Others pointed out that the stands when Valieva’s name up session hours before her
ference, which is required controversy. real unfairness came in Va- was announced. short program, though she
only for medal rounds, and lieva performing despite a did fall twice on the triple
when asked about the scan- The test was flagged by a positive test for a banned Her biggest mistake came on axel. Each time, the shy, re-
dal, Scherbakova said: “I will laboratory in Sweden for a substance. her first element, the diffi- served Russian quickly got
not say anything about this banned heart medication but cult triple axel, when Valieva up and kept pressing forward.
situation.” only emerged last week, after “I can only speak for myself barely held onto the jump
her two brilliant performanc- and that I advocate for clean through the opening chords Just as she’s done all week,
“Whether it is fair, I am not es in the team competition sporting,” said Mariah Bell, of Kirill Richter’s “In Me- even amid the tension en-
quite sure,” said Japan’s Kaori helped win gold for the Rus- who along with U.S. team- moriam.” She had no such gulfing her team.
Sakamoto, who sits in third sia Olympic Committee. mates Alysa Liu and Karen problems with her triple flip

Rams bask in Super Bowl win, hope McVay, Donald want another

(AP) — Sean McVay looked day morning to discuss his McVay has finally reached old is also the youngest coach ties to grow.”
and sounded very much like Los Angeles Rams’ home- the culmination of a journey to win a Super Bowl — and
somebody who had been up town coronation. he began in early 2017 as the the trip left him exhausted, Aaron Donald also hit his
all night celebrating his first youngest head coach in mod- but thrilled. career’s peak by making the
Super Bowl victory when the With the Rams’ 23-20 victory ern NFL history. Just over decisive defensive play on
coach showed up early Mon- over the Cincinnati Bengals, five years later, the 36-year- McVay said nothing Monday Cincinnati’s final snap, ha-
about the possibility of walk- rassing Joe Burrow into a
ing away from football soon, fourth-down incompletion
as the burnout-prone coach to finish a Super Bowl per-
has suggested when asked formance that included two
about it over the years. But sacks. The three-time AP
he didn’t sound like he was Defensive Player of the Year
finished with his work on a finally has his first ring —
team he built into a cham- and the 30-year-old star also
pion. sidestepped questions about
early retirement immediately
“I’ve been surrounded by after the victory.
great people,” McVay said.
“When you get around great Rams chief operating officer
players, great coaches that are Kevin Demoff says the team
all committed and working will wait until its celebrations
in the same direction, pulling die down to figure out how
that rope in the same direc- serious McVay and Donald
tion, good things can hap- are about starting life after
pen. When you have the right football, but he is optimistic
foundational pieces ... be- they’ll both be back.
cause of those guys’ success,
other people get opportuni-