Eteri works hard but Dave’s blade turns faster

the fact that they have anesthesiologist as the team doctor instead of an orthopedist or a sports medicine physician really shows us how eteri and the ROC prioritize winning by any means necessary over their athletes' wellbeing

You really should be the main person covering this scandal to the general public. NBC should have you on...or some channel that actually wants to address abuse in sport. Thank you Dave!

There are other Russian figure skating schools reach quads. Sofia Samodelkina, f. e never trained with Eteri, but she also has quads and triple axel. Elizabeth Berestovskaya has triple axel, and quad as I know. Not all Eteri’s girls have quads or triple axel. There are 30-50 girls on each age in that school and only 6 have quads, only 3 or 4 have triple axel. I don’t understand, why nobody complains about USA swimmers, sprinters, gymnasts, ice hockey domination, nobody complains about Norway skiers domination, nobody complains about Netherland speed skaters domination, nobody complains about Austrian mountain skiers domination and so on. Each country has time to time a kind of sport where it dominates. Sometimes the reason is the personality of the single sportsman or single coach, sometimes it is the high concurrency in the country. Quads in female figure skating are super new, nobody knows where it will go. Don’t be jealous and be more patient. Sportsman who can jump quads jumps triples near perfectly, this is the rule for both genders.

Kamilla is free to compete. The CAS said there was fundamental issues of fairness and serious questions regarding the timing of the positive drug test and the handling of her sample. This does not clear her and any medals she wins could be taken away. It is clear they felt it is better to take it away later if need be then deny the chance and then find out she should have been allowed to compete but was denied.

I can't believe it is even a dispute that she should be suspended. The people that are going "she's only 15, it's not fair to her" are lying to themselves about their sympathy for her or don't have two neurons to show for.

I heard the CAS announcement a few times and I found it ridiculous because the decision was made on protection of a minor. If an athlete (minor or not) cannot be put under an equal footing disciplinary actions on doping, how can he/she be allowed for an equal footing competition at the first place?

My heart breaks for Valieva as this is through no fault of her own. However, 100% agree that action needs to be taken NOW at this Olympic Games Beijing 2022 to regain the credibility of this beautiful sport and most importantly, to protect future generations of young talented female figure skaters like Valieva.

I think Plushenko knows when to cause chaos and when to mind his own business. The issue is deeply rooted in the system. Further, if he speaks, his students will suffer deliberate low scores in competitions.

As a lawyer I don’t find this decision so odd. The point is the balance of harm - it will take months for the actual case to be looked at and the decision to be made. The issue is whether in the meantime she should be allowed to skate at the Olympics. If she isn’t allowed to, and the result of the investigation is that there was no doping (just for the sake of argument, so the b sample is clear and it was a lab error, for instance), the loss she has suffered can’t be made up. She has missed her Olympic chance. But if she is allowed to skate and then is subsequently found to have been doping, the loss to the other competitors is not so severe. They all just move up on place. No medals are going to be awarded until this is all decided upon in months from now. The issue is just about what happens in the interim

Dave is really doing his homework and leaving no stones unturned. What's so sad is that even if this scandal hadn't occurred, we know that Eteri would have prepared the next youthful prodigy to take center stage. While Valieva would eventually move on as Lipniskaya, Medvedeva and Zagitova have.

Being serious: the court takes time. If she is guilty you can always take back her medal if she wins. If there is a tiny chance she is not and you don't let her compete - you can never return it to her. That simple.

At this point I think that élite athletes are basically all doped and If they catch you or not is a matter of luck or better of corrupted strategy.

As always, great job Dave! NBC has just been skimming the surface with this so it is so great that we have you to cover this. You have by far been the most clear-sighted, specific, and thorough when covering this issue.

I feel like it is 1994 but we have social media. Thank you

Definitely senior figure skating age should be bumped up to 17 or 18 and the rest can skate in junior comp. It’s not fair with the different body a 15 year old has compared to 18 and over

You're missing a point here. WADA had to announce the positive test within 10 days according to their own regulations and they did it after month. That's totally not a Valieva's fault whatsoever. If they've done it earlier and lawfully, the case would be all obvious and clear - disqualification after solid case and examined evidence, and it'd make sense. But the case is still not over and she has rights to defend herself, but there's no way to do that with such delay from WADA and 1 day before her performance is scheduled. If they disqualificate her now, and she's announced innocent, then they're making irreparable damage, as you mentioned. You can't punish an accused person without proving the guilt first.

There are still two questions which just don’t match… 1) how come the test came back after the Team Event? Covid bla bla bla - not buying it. 2) is Eteri that stupid to dope her students in the Olympic season knowing the scrutiny and that all of them are regularly tested? Wouldn’t she make sure that food, drinks, medication don’t leave any hint of doubt? I still think something is off here. Conveniently two problems are solved 1) Eteri is out 2) the age limit will be raised Is there a chance we will ever know what exactly happened?

This is such bullshit. I don't even want to watch the skating anymore. Basically what we're saying here is as long as you start doping your athletes young, you can get away with it. Oh and use your clout to make sure any test results stay hidden until it's too late.

Don't agree with the point that all Russian figure female skaters dope. Do you claim right now that Tuktamysheva, Samodelkina, etc. other skaters from non-Tutberidze camp dope simply because other countries cannot produce skaters of their technical level? Plus, you make the wrong statement - there are and have been a number of skaters who were capable of doing triple axels, and some who could do quads outside of Russia. And then, how would you explain doping only benefiting Russian ladies field and not men? There are other much more valid reasons to explain the phenomenon of Russian ladies skaters, that are deeper and more comprehensive than simply taking the pill, which, however, don't cancel the possibility of systematic doping in the certain group.

Think about all the girls, like Rika Kihira or Alyssa Liu, who have tried catching up to this "Russian quad revolution" who ended up getting injured because they were chasing athletes who were doping. The fallout is so much bigger than this one skater, and this kind of practice must not allowed to go on. Valieva should be disqualified. Eteri and her team should be banned.

Does anyone believe that Trusova and Shcherbakova is not doping? If Kamila is taking this drug then more than likely all of them are. She just got caught whether she didn't flush it out of her system fast enough or whatever. The fact that they hired a physician that is known for doping athletes is disturbing enough. As much as I support Kamila and am enthralled by her performance, it sets a dangerous precedence to allow her to skate and will just encourage the continued abuse of young girls by a coach that discards them every year. There must be severe punishment for the adults involved.

Timestamps in progress: 0:00 Introduction 0:11 CAS has concluded its hearing in the Kamila Valieva case, could have the results for the case as early as the ice dance medal winners conference. 0:38 leaks from the actual conference which is odd and highly unusual 0:42 New York Times Article 0:44 CAS hearings stay under the strictest secrecy 0:54 media obtained a clip that was peculiar by email from an IOC official from the hearing 1:38 Will Kamila Valieva be able to participate in the individual event 1:49 the credibility of the Olympics and figure skating is on thin ice and at stake here 2:06 Dave asking a coach whether Kamila Valieva should be banned, they said yes 3:08 it is extremely sad that this is Kamila’s experience at the Olympics that may be extinguished based off of the shelf life of Russian Teen figure skaters and history as well. This may be her one and only chance 3:37 maybe her parents were complicit to all of this 3:45 why is only one country produce quad jumping girls? Seems suspicious 4:24 Xenon gas, lupron, etc 5:51 Medvedeva 5:59 Kostornaia 6:01 Medvedeva 6:13 Yana and Evgeni Plushenko ***IMPORTANT UPDATE: KAMILA VALIEVA WILL BE COMPETING

First I'd like to say, thank you to Dave for staying ontop of this developing doping controversy. Very few of us have access to the info he can suss out. Great job 👍 Food for thought. Once in a lifetime a phenom comes along in a specific sport, e.g. Wayne Gretsky in Hockey, the Williams sisters in Tennis, Pelé in Soccer/Football, Michelle Wei in Golf, or Baryshnikov in Ballet ... you get the idea. To date there has never been a single coach in any specific sport that has ever produced a "continuous stable" of phenom after phenom after phenom. Most coaches spend the bulk of their career waiting for that 1 special student who has the magical combination of innate ability, a strong work ethic and the financial means to persue their passion. Few coaches ever work with a true phenom, a child of rare ability, a record breaker. Eteri is different. She may well have the skating Midas touch, but I will bet it does not involve a secret technique, a secret cross-training exercise or a secret food plan. Her secret to unfathomable success seems to be no more than the great, exceptional good fortune to have every single female (skating) overachiever in Russia, just walk up to her and ask to join her school. And from that alone, she is apparently able to have her young, female student body push their physical and mental boundaries and accomplish what no other before them has ever achieved at the ripe old age of prepubescence. Hmmm 🤔 What are the odds 🤔

That is a really relevant point wrt the Amanars in 2012. Yeah, the US had a lot of consistent Amanars, but they weren't the only country capable of producing them, and there wasn't just one coach who had the best results. Eteri's girls are like if we had a team of McKayla and Simone quality vaults from ALL our girls, year after year, and no other country had ever done it before. That would be a little suspicious!

What if her sample was mishandled by the testing site ? It happens all the time. It happened to me years ago when I went to a pain management Dr. I had to take random drug test and one came back dirty with drugs I had never done . Now because it took so long to get the results back she wasnt able to immediately give another test if she really hadn't taken that drug. I'm just thinking why would they give her this drug knowing she would be drug tested? I'm just so confused as to why they would take the chance of her testing dirty and being disqualified.

Anorexia becomes a life long illness as it is like alcoholism, people who suffer it even if treated can fall of the wagon throughout their whole lives. I have osteopenia which is low bone density which within a few years can become osteoporosis, I had a fall and broke two ribs one was going across my heart, luckily it didn’t break with a jagged head which could have killed me quickly. There is no concern for their future , anorexia will leach their bones also, I have lived with bad health and I wouldn’t wish Iyar on sn enemy if I had one. To do this to children is abhorrent, no gold medal will help a child in their middle age make them feel better when bones are breaking, they don’t know how to have a good relationship with food and then to try and bring children up with a broken body, it is truly heartbreaking, in one of your videos you mentioned eteri putting a child in a rubbish bin and putting the lid on it , all this screams abuse and after all the abuse Kami will be punished not the adults , it truly breaks my heart and as a mother and grandmother myself all I want to do is take her in my arms and protect her from those who don’t care about her future. Punish thr adults who did this, not the child

@Y"ALL. This is not a final decision. Not letting Kamila compete would have been a final decision. This lets a lengthy inquiry to happen, not something rushed that would have no opportunity to uncover facts in a fair way.

If she is not banned along with her coaching staff and the doctor, I fear that Figure Skating May loose the respect of the world😢

If Camilla goes down, the coach needs to go down too. It is not fair she’s being abused along with all of the other Russian figure skaters.

If I am to believe that this young girl is performing her beautiful artistic skating with perfect ultra-c elements, because she has been given a forbidden substance by an adult, then why penalize a 15 year old child. Also, if the December test showed positive results, then why is she the only russian skater in question ? Or am I to believe that they only doped Kamila, and not the rest of the national team. That would not make any sense to me. And this test result on December 25th should have been reported to the ISU by at least January 4th , well ahead of the European championships and the Russian championships. We were not given these test results until February 7th, the day after the Team free skate. 43 days after the testing in December seems excessive to me . Kamila is the scapegoat in this conspiracy.

Ethics in US? 😂😂😂 Deajah Stevens, Gabriel Thomas, Christian Coleman, Brianna McNeal, Houlihan....

The international Olympic Committee is a disgrace

The reason Plushenko did not attack and wrote that “support” post is more complicated. As the conspiracy theories are emerging in Russia, many fingers were pointed at him as the biggest rival of Tut, and I think that was a way of eliminating those accusations.

This is being completely mishandled from the start. As a minor, her name should be out of the hearing completely. The adults (looking more and more like creepy anesthesiologist) should be under deliberation.

You are spot on about Plushenko. He is spreading support towards Valieva and her coaches on Instagram.

Totally agree with you Dave! I love Kamila, my heart is broken, but this is much bigger, the integrity of figure skating and the Olympics. So sad

Dave, thank you for your passion and dedication to covering this issue so thoroughly! You raise so many excellent talking points and keep us updated with every new piece of information. Your videos are so appreciated!

You are such a hardworking person😊 Thank u so much!!!

First of all, thank you for your content. But I'd like to clarify a few things if someone is interested in my opinion. As someone who grew up in a post-soviet union country, I can explain several points. 1. Eteri's coaching methods. There is such a thing as different mentality and culture. Unfortunately, in Russia, it's different from what you are used to. Relationships in families differ from European or American families, the same thing in coaching methods. Everyone in the US knows about strict Chinese parents, same here, but with Russian style. Parents don't communicate enough with their kids, coaches going tough on their students. It was always that way, not only in figure skating. The same strict system is used in rhythmic gymnastics and synchronized swimming and in both cases Russia is a very strong competitor, which shows that eventually, it works for their mentality. "Over The Limit" documentary is a great showcase of that system (btw that documentary is about Russian rhythmic gymnast Margarita Mamun who is covering figure skating on Russian national television from an amateur point of view). Evgenia Medvedeva in one of her interviews said that the coaching approach she had with Brian Orser is completely different from what she was used to inTutberidze's team. In Russia, her team was motivating her to train more, whether in Canada she had to do it herself. Don't get me wrong I'm not trying to prove some of those methods are good and right ones, I'm just trying to show the other side. The so-called "Carrot and stick method" is an English equivalent to Russian метод кнута и пряника is commonly used in Russia especially in sports. I think the phrase demonstrates well the reality of the Russian sport. You said quote "unfortunately, her coaches robbed her of that (shot to become an Olympic champion)..." . The fact that the drug got into Kamila's body because of her team is not proven. There is simply no evidence of that. So, I guess in this case even briefly saying that it's her coach's fault is not quite right. What we can definitely say though is that the system needs to be changed, the system of drug testing in Russia, the relationship system (both within the families and sport) and this case showed that the media behavior needs some changes as well (I'm talking about the pressure the whole Russian figure skating team is going through). Kamila tested positive, ok. How come the information leaked from the organizations that had access to it? If it wasn't leaked there still would be proceeding, but what we could get rid of is the extra stress that a young girl went through. No one says that if she is 15 it's ok to use doping, but I'm pretty sure that everyone's thinking that a fifteen-year-old girl shouldn't go through that amount of pressure. 2. You said, quote "the United States had great vaulters in gymnastics .... but the other countries were actually able to achieve similar results OVER TIME". You said it yourself, overtime other countries will get there. Alysa Liu, Rika Kihira, Kaori Sakamoto are great showcases of that. Step by step but they are getting their quads. Sorry for such a long comment. And I'd like to apologize to anyone who won't agree with my points I just wanted to try and show the other side, so I did.

As I predicted, Kamila will be allowed to skate. Looking forward to seeing Kamila, Anna and Sasha do their best. Exciting! The witch hunt will just have to wait.

Wow Dave you are working so hard! Thank you for all you do!!!

You are the Walter Cronkite of figure skating news. Thank you so much for your timely and comprehensive coverage!

Outstanding review of this case. Thank you for sharing your love and knowledge of your sport, Dave!

Banned substances are banned for a reason.

Honestly if they allow her to compete the olympics are a joke

Thanks for all of the updates!

Michelle Kwan said that she was offered the doping route. She said that if she couldn't make it with her own natural abilities, then she didn't want it.

Eteri Tutberidze has trained many world and Olympic champions. And her students have never been caught taking illegal drugs. Kamilla Valeeva is her most talented student. For Kamila's victory, doping was not needed, especially a cardioprotector for pensioners. But there are three questions. 1. Why was laboratory previously deprived of accreditation? 2. Why was the doping test analyzed with violations? 3. Why is the decision on Camilla's case made by a commission headed by a US representative?

They absolutely cannot allow her to compete… she tested positive , end of story… if I was a figure skater competing & they allowed her to compete , I would boycott.

Your right about naming one other sport where she would be allowed to compete. Something I felt after the Nasser scandal with gymnastics is that maybe the athletes should have to be 18 to compete at an Olympic level

Let's review the facts before judging

If Kamilla is Positive Disqualified Her. Rules are Rules. Then Let Anna and Sasha Compete.

What about Nathan Chen, nobody can beat him. And it's not right saying Japan can't produce amazing skaters. In Russia it's cheaper to train every day, 7 hours per day than any country. And in any sport they watch what you eat. I did rhythmic gymnastics and we had a strict diet. Even in Australia.

Tour de France winner Contador tested positive in Sept 2010 for a July sample. He was allowed to race until CAS final decision in Feb 2012. His results were stripped retroactively. It's one thing to argue that only x training technique can produce y results, but it's not a good argument to say that if only one country is this good at one sport, they must be cheating. You might as well say US's basketball dream team are all doping. Plushenko could be supportive now because obviously this doping scandal has moved to the political realm with the optics of him going ham on Eteri could easily be seen as anti-Russian rather than anti-Eteri. Look at the all the international news stories pointing to "another" Russian doping scandal and how all Russians are cheats.

Thank you for mentioning parents as part of the blame. How is training for 12 hours a day sustainable in any sport. Smh..

Omg another, thank you!

there is an ongoing independent investigation on Khrystalny case now - apparently Dr. Shvetsky & Team Tut has 4 medical rooms in the basement where they provide "treatments"...

Thanks for the double upload Dave!

Thank you Dave! A true public service 🙏

Helpful breakdown on the key issues of this case. Kamila has attracted the attention of a larger audience. I quit watching figure skating when Kim Yuna took silver in 2014. Kamila's performance and artistry got me watching again in 2022. Fifteen is a minor in most countries. The adults around her must be held responsible, just like someone who gives alcohol or drugs to a minor. Why didn't they deal with this before the Olympics since they already knew? The middle of the Olympic competition is strange. IOC will have to drop Kamila's performances in this Olympics. She should be allowed to compete again when she is 16 and has different coaches. Sad day for figure skating if we don't get to see Kamila on the ice.

Two in one day!! Thank you so much for your poignant opinions!!

Sunday Funday with these uploads! 🙌🙌‼️

I can’t believe that this is not a bigger story to the media. I feel like these kids are so vulnerable in these situations.

All these comments aka she is just innocent child, she is only 15, she doesn't know what she takes....ok. There's such a thing like Olympics for children. Today she's participating in adult Olympics and she has to take the responsibility. Maybe increasing the minimum age for starting at Olympics is the thing? It's an adult competition for grown up persons. If she's not responsible for her medicine/eating/anything than it's not right place for child to compete.

This is going to take along time to resolve. The B sample must now have DNA testing to be sure it is even her sample. It is not clear as to what exactly happened at the Lab but clearly something went seriously wrong for the CAS to make this ruling.

Thanks for this video! Where is the video you said you would link in the description❓

Thanks for all your work & research on this, Dave! I hope you're getting some sleep!

Kamila… we are with you angel 💚💛🧡💙💜❤️💙🧡💛💚

Real talk, I feel like pandora's has been opened. Alot of people have woke up and realized that if nothing changes doping is the only way to succeed in this sport. So many young women discouraged from even trying, because what's the point?

I hope none of these girls will suffer the long term damages of whatever drugs they were fed with, anything from heart related problems to fertility issues.

Dave you're so brave in keep this up relentlessly as it should have been by someone in the capacity or position of ISU, WADA or whatever the heck else that's supposed to be involved. Why the other nation's federations are not speaking up in regards to this ? Do they also have something to hide ? If not then speak up or the whole skating community might crumble before our eyes (unlikely but still) ? raise the age to 16 and older for any sports not just skating but snow boarding, skate boarding where 13 yr old won summer Olyimpics, Any sports period. They can be held accountable to any doping or wrong doings then.

Thank you, Dave, for showing compassion for Kamila and moving all the criticism to the Russian sport system and her coaches in particular. I agree with you here. One thing that you didn't really touch upon is why it took so long to get these results announced. 6 weeks?! I cannot believe it takes so long to process and confirm all the findings. The situation would be so less breaking for Kamila if she wasn't sent to Olympics due to the positive doping test and the whole Russian team wouldn't be disqualified from the team event because of her. Any chance to dig in something here?

The fact that she's being allowed to compete has me doubt the entire Olympic movement going forward. If doping literal children is allowed now without consequence, the precedent is set for all countries to attempt even more extreme child abuse.

Excellent. Transparency. Thank you.

thank you for your service! parabens!

Thank you so much, David, I want to send you all the coffees on venmo.......and you are so right about the complicity of us all in skating and in society in general. You are our conscience.

Whitdraw yours atlethes,also Japan,and Belgium . Today the female skating on ice is dead. The Tutberidze system win.

great job Dave.

Really really good commentary. Thank you

You are so right. I always wondered why is that only one country's skaters keep on doing quads??

Dave, you should be on NBC instead of those goof balls Tara and Johnny. They still have not discussed on air one of the most important stories and scandals of these Olympics. Shameful! You give a fair, non-emotional look at all sides of this and I so appreciate all you are doing for all of us!

Thanks Dave for such in depth coverage, you should be the ice skating reporter for a main channel as you know the sport inside out

Do not presume that you know everything, do not presume that your reaction will be the same as others. DO not Presume.

THANK YOU! No sleep as we wait for the decision. I’ve got a bad feeling that the hearing moving from the doping unit to the legal dispute unit means they’re going to hide behind some bs and let her compete. The whole thing is just so disappointing but not surprising.

Am glad that you put it out there how we, the viewers, are also encouraging these behaviors. Before this happened, how many jokes didn't we make about Eteri's couching methods or about that girl that "ran way in the forest" or made predictions about the next injury was going to come from. Like we have been having our weekly gossip at the expense of these you girls while simultaneously hyping up the next batch of disposal product. Like i truly hope this outrage actually leads to something. I stayed with this sport even though I detest what is happening regarding the jumps and the component scores. I stayed with it even I knew how the Sambo70 girls were being treated but I think this is the one that's going to break my back.

The most frustrating about this whole story is that we all know that if Valieva's doping is confirmed the other Eteri girls are almost certainly being "helped" with all kinds of stuff too. But hardly anyone talks about them. What about Shcherbakova's medal if she gets on the podium (she will)? Or Trusova? Valieva just has the bad luck of having been caught. Shcherbakova is a particulourly suspicious case and we all know it. She's starved for sure but who knows what else Eteri makes her do. How can anyone still believe she is 100% clean even if she really is clean? The saying "innocent until proven otherwise" cannot apply to skaters whose coach is not going by the book.

I refuse to believe that Eteri , Sergei & Daniel had no idea what was going on…. I hope they request hair samples from every girl who trains in Russia . Plushenko jumped on every opportunity to bash Eteri & he’s been silent? Where’s Mishin ? Any chance koylada tested positive & did not have covid?

Dave, you’re addressing all the key issues. Thank you for sharing your extremely well researched results. The fact that eg Plushenko is being silent validates the assumption that all of this runs deeper than we might thought of. It is just tragic, that an obviously hardworking and talented girl has to take the fall for a flawed system.

So I can start giving my daughter all the drugs I want up to 18. Got it.There’s a legal precedent now. Perfect.

Thanks for this!!

Plushenko did make a post supporting Kamila and Eteri

Dave, your analysis is always so insightful! You would make an excellent investigative journalist (and I hope you would write a book someday!). Also, it would be great if you could make TSL available in podcast format!

Plushenko actually posted his support for Valieva few days ago i guess. So he is not silent.

Fabulous report Dave!

No one compares to Kamila. She has no need to take any drugs to stay on top of the skates.

Валиева лучшая!!! Тутберидзе лучшая!!!

it would be so much kinder to just ban her from the rest of the event - I’m really concerned for how the other girls are doing/will do in the event they’re only kids too :/

Such a strange cognitive dissonance. I agree that she shouldn’t be competing. Yet, I am happy she will be skating, and we will see her amazing performances again (probably for the last time). At least Tutberidze and her staff a being investigated. That is far more important than punishing the child.

I 100% agree the age should be upped to 18 years old.