Sports

NBC’s Tara Lipinski and Johnny Weir Go Off On Russia’s Skater Participating After A Positive PED Test

#Russia
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Tara Lipinski and Johnny Weir Go Off On Kamila Valiyeva Participating

Getty Image / Michael Loccisano


  • NBC commentators and former skaters Tara Lipinski and Johnny Weir went off following Kamila Valiyeva’s short program on Tuesday night
  • The Russian skater was allowed to participate in the Olympics even after a confirmed positive test for PEDs
  • Read more Olympics right here

Russian skater Kamila Valiyeva posted an 82.16 on Tuesday night in the short program, a score that put her in first place. This comes amid an ongoing investigation after she tested positive for a performance-enhancing drug back in December but was allowed to continue to compete while the investigation takes place.

In the words of 1998 Olympic champion Tara Lipinksi, “we should not have seen this skate” ever take place because the positive test completely overshadows and tarnishes these Olympic games. Russia has repeatedly gone to extreme lengths to cheat using performance-enhancing drugs. Russian athletes have to complete under ‘ROC’ because Russia itself is banned after the most elaborate cheating scheme in history was exposed.

After Kamila Valiyeva completed her skate in the short program on Tuesday night, Tara Lipinksi and Johnny Weir went off on how it should never have taken place, and how it’s a stain on the sport.

Tara Lipinski and Johnny Weir Go Off On Kamila Valiyeva Participating After Positive Test

Tara Lipinski said “for all the other Olympic athletes skating here, I feel I need to say again that she had a positive test. We should not have seen this skate” and Johnny Weird added “We are so sorry it’s overshadowing your Olympics.”

They are clearly in a precarious situation, unable to say too much as they represent NBC and don’t want to jeopardize the NBC relationship with the Olympics but everyone is glad they spoke up because it’s absolutely absurd Kamila Valiyeva was able to skate at all.

How did all of this start?

A medal ceremony for the figure skating team event was delayed after it was revealed Russian skater Kamila Valiyeva tested positive for trimetazidine on December 25th, a banned heart medication. During a February 9th hearing in front of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency, Kamila Valiyeva’s team successfully argued the positive test was due to ‘accidental use’ and her ban from skating was lifted.

Something that isn’t getting enough attention, in my opinion, is at that hearing it was revealed Kamila Valiyeva tested positive for hypoxen, a drug that the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency has tried to have banned in the past.

U.S. anti-doping chief Travis Tygart says hypoxen and the banned substance trimetazidine “are all aimed, essentially, at increasing endurance, reducing fatigue” which is about as clear cut of a ‘PED” definition as I’ve ever seen.

The excuse Kamila Valiyeva and her team are arguing is her grandfather uses trimetazidine and she accidentally ingested it somehow, and that’s how she tested positive. She’s being allowed to compete while her team tries to prove this explanation was true while Yahoo! points out “there is inadequate evidence that her grandfather was even using trimetazidine” according to the World Anti-Doping Agency filing.

Fans react to Tara Lipinski and Johnny Weir’s comments about Kamila Valiyeva

It seems like Kamila Valiyeva’s team is fighting an extremely uphill battle here trying to prove she accidentally ingested her grandfather’s medication that they can’t even prove existed in the first place. So we’ll see where this story goes in the coming days.