BEIJING (AP) — No matter how the IOC tries to spin it, the enduring symbol of the Beijing Games — and really, the entire Olympic movement — is a sad little girl put in an untenable position by adults who have no shame.
A lot of serious issues will need to be addressed after the flame is extinguished, from doping rules to age limits to tyrannical coaches, but we shouldn’t lose sight of the bigger questions:
What will it take for the Olympics to truly live up to its ideals?
Is meaningful change even possible at this point?
“Who will save Olympic and Paralympic sport in our time?” asked Max Cobb, the president and CEO of the U.S. biathlon program. “I don’t think the movement can take many more years of this doubted authenticity before its value is so eroded that other interests eclipse it and it’s lost for another millennia.”
Kamila Valieva flew away from the Winter Olympics on Friday, her dreams crushed at the tender age of 15, and there’s no reason to think she’d ever want to return after what she went through in Beijing.
The Russian child — and let’s not lose sight that she is just a child — shouldn’t have been allowed to compete in women’s figure skating after testing positive for a banned heart medication.
But compete she did, setting up the heartbreaking spectacle of a gold medal favorite, thoroughly overwhelmed by the scrutiny of the past two weeks, stumbling and bumbling and tumbling completely out of the medals on an extraordinary night at the Capital Indoor Stadium.
As difficult as it was to watch, maybe it was a good thing it happened. The hypocrisy of the Olympic movement has never been more apparent than those four minutes when the world came together to watch a train wreck in real time.
Each time Valieva botched a jump, the images should’ve flashed through our consciousness.
David J. Phillip
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/David J. Phillip)
The Olympics being held in a country accused of genocide against its Uyghur minority. The Russians getting one pass after another despite repeated doping violations and cover-ups. Sponsors concerned only with their bottom lines. The International Olympic Committee turning a blind eye to it all, content with the status quo as long as it comes with first-class flights, five-star hotels and per diems that are more than some people make in a year.
If anyone tried to turn away, they should’ve had their eyes pried open like Malcolm McDowell in “A Clockwork Orange.”
IOC President Thomas Bach took to the microphone the morning after the figure skating debacle to feign all sorts of outrage at the way things went down, which should carry about as much weight as one of Kanye’s Twitter rants.
“I must say I was very, very disturbed when I watched the competition on TV,” Bach said, trying to sound earnest. “To see her there struggling on the ice, seeing how she tries to compose herself again, how then she tries to finish her program, you could in every movement in the body language, you could feel that this is an immense, immense mental stress and maybe she would have preferred just to leave the ice and try to leave this story behind her.”
Of course, Bach and his minions at the IOC would love nothing more than to leave this story behind.
Rest assured, in the days and weeks and months to come, they’ll speak glowingly of their 2 1/2 weeks in China, undoubtedly portraying Valieva as a mere blip in another hugely successful games. Once all the checks clear, they’ll tally up their profits and look giddily toward an even bigger haul in Paris, two years downs the road, when hopefully the scourge of COVID-19 has waned.
We can’t let them get away so easily.
The Olympic movement needs a total reset of its priorities, which probably won’t happen until big-money sponsors and influential broadcasters such as NBC actually threaten to put away their checkbooks.
″It’s time for NBC, Visa, Proctor & Gamble, Alibaba and all the rest to step in and get this right for the athletes,” said Travis Tygart, CEO of the U.S., Anti-Doping Agency. “Enough fence-straddling by companies that financially prop up the Games. They’re the real power and they need to step in and do the right thing for athletes.”
Tygart’s main focus is the doping code that was largely a sham in Beijing. Valieva’s youth — and the special treatment if afforded her under the rules — has already led to calls for raising the minimum age of Olympic athletes to 18.
That’s a start, but only the tip of an enormous iceberg. The system seems largely designed to protect the dopers, at the expense of those athletes who try to do things the right way.
“With probably well over $100 million spent on global anti-doping efforts annually, how did all that well-intended effort leave athletes and the sport-loving public so utterly unsatisfied, disillusioned and feeling that the integrity of sport hangs in the balance right now?” Cobb rightly asked.
Don’t be distracted by the shiny object the IOC is already trying to throw our way, to distract us from the bigger, systematic issues.
Yes, Valieva’s bully of a coach, Eteri Tutberidze, deserves all the scorn we can muster for the way she treated the crestfallen teen coming off the ice. “Why did you let it go? Why did you stop fighting?” Tutberidze asked Valieva, like a shark circling its prey.
“When I afterwards saw how she was received by her closest entourage, with such a what appeared to be a tremendous coldness, it was chilling to see this,” Bach said.
Even more chilling is what the Olympic movement has become.
The whole world saw it during four pathetic minutes in Beijing.
-
Column: Olympic ideal exposed as farce on sad night in China
Natacha Pisarenko
Under the current Olympic Charter, yes. National Olympic Committees are responsible for entering competitors, and those competitors must be “a national” of that NOC's country.
Natacha Pisarenko
Under the current Olympic Charter, yes. National Olympic Committees are responsible for entering competitors, and those competitors must be “a national” of that NOC's country.
-
Column: Olympic ideal exposed as farce on sad night in China
China goalkeeper Jieruimi Shimisi (Jeremy Smith) by Matt Slocum
Birthright citizenship isn't a universal concept. The U.S. is one of the most prominent practitioners of jus soli, conferring citizenship on anyone born on U.S. soil.
— Many countries use jus sanguinis — blood ties — in their citizenship criteria. If you are born in France, say, but your parents aren't French, you can't attain citizenship until your teenage years.
— Naturalization is another path to citizenship. Two common ways of attaining naturalization are jus domicilii (fulfilling residency requirements) and jus matrimonii (marriage to a citizen). Tim Koleto, a U.S.-born ice dancer representing Japan, is married to his Japanese skating partner, for instance.
—If you're wealthy enough, you can also buy citizenship or at least a visa with a fast track to citizenship in some cases. Countries sometimes actively recruit, too — like China with its hockey team, though the details of that are a mystery.
With each country having dramatically different citizenship requirements — some as loose as having a single grandparent born on its soil — it would not be out of the question for a would-be competitor to have five passports.
China goalkeeper Jieruimi Shimisi (Jeremy Smith) by Matt Slocum
Birthright citizenship isn't a universal concept. The U.S. is one of the most prominent practitioners of jus soli, conferring citizenship on anyone born on U.S. soil.
— Many countries use jus sanguinis — blood ties — in their citizenship criteria. If you are born in France, say, but your parents aren't French, you can't attain citizenship until your teenage years.
— Naturalization is another path to citizenship. Two common ways of attaining naturalization are jus domicilii (fulfilling residency requirements) and jus matrimonii (marriage to a citizen). Tim Koleto, a U.S.-born ice dancer representing Japan, is married to his Japanese skating partner, for instance.
—If you're wealthy enough, you can also buy citizenship or at least a visa with a fast track to citizenship in some cases. Countries sometimes actively recruit, too — like China with its hockey team, though the details of that are a mystery.
With each country having dramatically different citizenship requirements — some as loose as having a single grandparent born on its soil — it would not be out of the question for a would-be competitor to have five passports.
-
-
Column: Olympic ideal exposed as farce on sad night in China
Kaillie Humphries by Pavel Golovkin
It's a matter of opportunity and philosophy. If you're a star player in a team sport, you would likely opt for the country that has the best chance of winning. But if your main goal is to just make it to the Olympics, you might find a clearer path through a country that's not a powerhouse.
There are also sponsorship deals and sentiment to consider. Gu is the star of Team China, whereas she would have been among a field of telegenic, charismatic figures like Chloe Kim if she had competed for the U.S. And she has deep ties to China — she spent significant time here growing up, was raised by a Chinese mother and speaks Mandarin fluently.
In some cases, the choice doesn't feel much like one: Bobsled star Kaillie Humphries left Team Canada, saying she was subjected to abuse and harassment from its officials. She became a U.S. citizen barely two months before these Games began.
Kaillie Humphries by Pavel Golovkin
It's a matter of opportunity and philosophy. If you're a star player in a team sport, you would likely opt for the country that has the best chance of winning. But if your main goal is to just make it to the Olympics, you might find a clearer path through a country that's not a powerhouse.
There are also sponsorship deals and sentiment to consider. Gu is the star of Team China, whereas she would have been among a field of telegenic, charismatic figures like Chloe Kim if she had competed for the U.S. And she has deep ties to China — she spent significant time here growing up, was raised by a Chinese mother and speaks Mandarin fluently.
In some cases, the choice doesn't feel much like one: Bobsled star Kaillie Humphries left Team Canada, saying she was subjected to abuse and harassment from its officials. She became a U.S. citizen barely two months before these Games began.
-
Column: Olympic ideal exposed as farce on sad night in China
Gus Kenworthy by Sergei Grits
No. However, if you've represented one country on the international stage, you do have to wait three years before you can represent another at the Olympics. This waiting period can be reduced or eliminated if all the involved National Olympic Committees and the relevant international sporting federation are in agreement, though.
Freestyle skier Gus Kenworthy shot to fame at the 2014 Winter Olympics, where he won a silver medal as part of the U.S. team. This time around, he's competing for Great Britain where he was born and his mother hails from (his dad is American and Kenworthy was raised in the U.S.).
Gus Kenworthy by Sergei Grits
No. However, if you've represented one country on the international stage, you do have to wait three years before you can represent another at the Olympics. This waiting period can be reduced or eliminated if all the involved National Olympic Committees and the relevant international sporting federation are in agreement, though.
Freestyle skier Gus Kenworthy shot to fame at the 2014 Winter Olympics, where he won a silver medal as part of the U.S. team. This time around, he's competing for Great Britain where he was born and his mother hails from (his dad is American and Kenworthy was raised in the U.S.).
-
-
Column: Olympic ideal exposed as farce on sad night in China
Tina Garabedian and Simon Proulx Senecal by Natacha Pisarenko
I see you've been taking in the ice dancing. The discipline is rife with pairs where at least one half has tenuous, if any, ties to the country for which they compete (though none of the medalist pairs this year had naturalized members). Ice dancing has historically been dominated by a handful of countries — namely Russia (or its historical antecedents), with strong showings by Canada, France, the U.S. and Great Britain. That means if you want to make it to the premier rink, it might behoove you to acquire a new nationality.
Furthermore, many ice dancers train together in Michigan or Canada, so pairs often comprise people with differing nationalities of origin. The ice dancers Nikolaj Sørensen and Laurence Fournier Beaudry used to compete for Sørensen's native Denmark, but Fournier Beaudry couldn't acquire citizenship in time so they switched to representing her native Canada.
Simon Proulx-Sénécal used to compete for his native Canada, but switched to Armenia after pairing with Tina Garabedian, an Armenian-Canadian. Armenia grants citizenship “ without any requirement to persons who have provided exceptional service” to the country — augmenting a stable of high-profile talent seems to count.
Tina Garabedian and Simon Proulx Senecal by Natacha Pisarenko
I see you've been taking in the ice dancing. The discipline is rife with pairs where at least one half has tenuous, if any, ties to the country for which they compete (though none of the medalist pairs this year had naturalized members). Ice dancing has historically been dominated by a handful of countries — namely Russia (or its historical antecedents), with strong showings by Canada, France, the U.S. and Great Britain. That means if you want to make it to the premier rink, it might behoove you to acquire a new nationality.
Furthermore, many ice dancers train together in Michigan or Canada, so pairs often comprise people with differing nationalities of origin. The ice dancers Nikolaj Sørensen and Laurence Fournier Beaudry used to compete for Sørensen's native Denmark, but Fournier Beaudry couldn't acquire citizenship in time so they switched to representing her native Canada.
Simon Proulx-Sénécal used to compete for his native Canada, but switched to Armenia after pairing with Tina Garabedian, an Armenian-Canadian. Armenia grants citizenship “ without any requirement to persons who have provided exceptional service” to the country — augmenting a stable of high-profile talent seems to count.
-
Column: Olympic ideal exposed as farce on sad night in China
Vitaly Smirnov by LIONEL CIRONNEAU
The dissolution of the Soviet Union happened just before the 1992 Winter Olympics (back when the Winter and Summer Olympics took place in the same year). The successor states didn't have NOCs in place, so athletes competed as the Unified Team.
The Olympic Charter makes a special provision for instances of independence, border changes and mergers, offering athletes a one-time choice between representing the original entity or the new one.
Vitaly Smirnov by LIONEL CIRONNEAU
The dissolution of the Soviet Union happened just before the 1992 Winter Olympics (back when the Winter and Summer Olympics took place in the same year). The successor states didn't have NOCs in place, so athletes competed as the Unified Team.
The Olympic Charter makes a special provision for instances of independence, border changes and mergers, offering athletes a one-time choice between representing the original entity or the new one.
-
-
Column: Olympic ideal exposed as farce on sad night in China
Francisco Seco
While the Olympics profess to eschew politics, almost every facet of them is inherently political.
Athletes who switch nationalities risk being branded traitors by their spurned countries. In 2017, track's international governing body froze nationality switches and its president, Sebastian Coe, said the switches were “bordering on trafficking if you’re not careful.” The comment was sparked by nations like Qatar recruiting athletes with no ties to compete, but denying them full citizenship rights.
Even former IOC President Jacques Rogge expressed concern about financially motivated decisions to switch nationalities in 2012.
Francisco Seco
While the Olympics profess to eschew politics, almost every facet of them is inherently political.
Athletes who switch nationalities risk being branded traitors by their spurned countries. In 2017, track's international governing body froze nationality switches and its president, Sebastian Coe, said the switches were “bordering on trafficking if you’re not careful.” The comment was sparked by nations like Qatar recruiting athletes with no ties to compete, but denying them full citizenship rights.
Even former IOC President Jacques Rogge expressed concern about financially motivated decisions to switch nationalities in 2012.
-
Column: Olympic ideal exposed as farce on sad night in China
Zhu Yi by David J. Phillip
It kind of depends how they perform. We've seen the divergent reactions in China to gold medalist Gu and her fellow Team China member Zhu Yi, a figure skater who won a U.S. national novice title as Beverly Zhi but flamed out at these Olympics.
This is a theme seen throughout the sporting world: Soccer fans can be brutally racist or xenophobic toward certain players on national teams. German-born Mesut Özil helped Germany to a World Cup victory in 2014, but — in the wake of contention surrounding his association with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan — became the focus of ire when the Germans crashed out unexpectedly early in 2018.
“I am German when we win, but I am an immigrant when we lose," he wrote upon resigning from the national team.
Zhu Yi by David J. Phillip
It kind of depends how they perform. We've seen the divergent reactions in China to gold medalist Gu and her fellow Team China member Zhu Yi, a figure skater who won a U.S. national novice title as Beverly Zhi but flamed out at these Olympics.
This is a theme seen throughout the sporting world: Soccer fans can be brutally racist or xenophobic toward certain players on national teams. German-born Mesut Özil helped Germany to a World Cup victory in 2014, but — in the wake of contention surrounding his association with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan — became the focus of ire when the Germans crashed out unexpectedly early in 2018.
“I am German when we win, but I am an immigrant when we lose," he wrote upon resigning from the national team.
-
-
Column: Olympic ideal exposed as farce on sad night in China
Natacha Pisarenko
Kamila Valieva, of the Russian Olympic Committee, reacts after the women's free skate program during the figure skating competition at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Thursday, Feb. 17, 2022, in Beijing. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
Natacha Pisarenko
Kamila Valieva, of the Russian Olympic Committee, reacts after the women's free skate program during the figure skating competition at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Thursday, Feb. 17, 2022, in Beijing. (AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko)
