BEIJING, China — After Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva landed her historic quadruple jump during the team competition at the Beijing Winter Olympics, her teammates followed suit.
Anna Shcherbakova won a stunning gold medal in women’s figure skating at the Beijing Games on Thursday night, while Russian teammate Kamila Valieva tumbled all the way out of the medals after a mistake-filled end to her controversial Olympics. Shcherbakova performed a near-flawless free skate to leap over the 15-year-old Valieva, the leader after the short program. Valieva threw up her arms in resignation and disgust after her program. Russian teammate Alexandra Trusova leaped to silver with her quad-packed program while Japan’s Kaori Sakamoto held onto the bronze medal.
Russia’s trio of teenage figure skating stars each enter an uncertain future after what may be the most dramatic night in their sport's history. World record holder Valieva faces a possible doping ban and a coach whose first response to her disastrous skate Thursday was more criticism. Runner-up Trusova was in despair after her history-making five quadruple jumps proved not enough to beat teammate Shcherbakova to the gold medal. Shcherbakova seemed unsure how to react the drama unfolding around her and is also unsure how long she'll stay in the sport.
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