Feb 1 (Reuters) – Kamila Valieva’s comeback got off to an inauspicious start as the former Olympic prodigy finished sixth in the semi-finals of the Russian show jumping championships on Sunday in her first competition since serving a four-year doping ban.
The 19-year-old had a bump on the landing of her opening quadruple toe loop, fell on her second and then finished with a messy double somersault, triple Salchow combination.
Unlike traditional skating events, skaters had 90 seconds each to complete a series of jumps, with only general background music played. The top three advanced to the final.
ALEXANDER NEMENOV via Getty Images
Nearly four years after her involvement in a doping scandal that marred the 2022 Olympics, Valieva returned to the spotlight in the quarterfinals on Saturday with a clean quad toe run, a jump that only a small number of female skaters have landed.
Despite her flawless skate on Sunday, fans waved banners with her name and then threw dozens of stuffed animals onto the ice.
Valieva is still not eligible for the Milan Cortina Olympics, which start on Friday. Three-time Russian national champion Adeliia Petrosian will compete as an individual neutral athlete and is considered one of the contenders for the women’s title.
Valieva was 15 when she became the center of a global controversy at the 2022 Olympics after a sample taken two months earlier tested positive for the banned substance trimetazidine.
The failed test emerged after she helped Russia win team gold, a result from which she was later disqualified, lifting the United States to the top of the podium.
Under intense scrutiny, she finished fourth among the women, receiving harsh criticism from her coach Eteri Tutberidze.
The minimum age for skaters at the Olympic Games has now been increased to 17 years.
