
Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva.
The Olympics are upon us again and as we all gather around the television, or keep track of the medals won via our mobile device, there now seems to be a bit of a shadow. Not only are athletes having to contend with the COVID-19 crisis and strict protocols, resulting in no fans to cheer them on, and losing some team members to quarantine, they’re also contending with a new doping scandal.
Fifteen-year-old Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva tested positive for a restricted substance, which should have disqualified her from competing. This disqualification would have cost Russia the gold, but as the world awaited the decision, we were left with more questions than answers. Valieva would be allowed to continue to compete.
Last summer we saw a different scenario play out with Sha’Carri Richardson, a young American runner who was poised to medal in the summer Olympics but was disqualified for a failed drug test shortly before the games were scheduled to start. Richardson tested positive for marijuana, which she admitted after finding out her mother died during an interview. The committee knew what transpired that led to the lapse in judgment, and Richardson took accountability for her mistake, yet she was still disqualified in an effort to keep the Olympic games drug-free and the rules fairly applied across the board.
With the news of Kamila Valieva failing her drug test for a substance called trimetazidine, people are scratching their heads, including Richardson. Trimetazidine is a heart medication that can be used as a performance enhancer due to its ability to increase blood flow to the heart, which then pumps more blood to the muscles enhancing one's ability to compete. Richardson posted to Twitter calling out the decision-makers, saying “Can we get a solid answer on the difference of her situation and mines? My mother died and I can’t run and was also favored to place top 3. The only difference I can see is I’m a black young lady.”
While Valieva is young, and the drugs found in her system were likely the result of the adults around her hoping to give her an edge over the competition, it still doesn’t fall in line with the anti-doping rules of the Olympic Committee, yet the Court of Arbitration for Sports has given the green light for Valieva’s continued participation. This decision not only seems to disregard the athletes working to compete in a way that is fair, but also those who have stayed clean of any and all performance-enhancing substances. The decision is also one in stark contrast to the one swiftly handed down to Richardson, so one must ask what the difference could be?
Marijuana isn’t known for enhancing anyone’s ability to do anything other than watch a marathon of your favorite show on Netflix while eating your weight in chips and queso, but that didn’t seem to matter when it counted most for Richardson. This is a tale of two athletes. One, a white child with adults around her likely making the poor decision to violate the anti-doping rules, and the other, a Black young woman who made a poor choice in her grief after she found out she lost her mother from a reporter during an interview on live television. Why is one the exception to the rule?
There seems to be a fairly clear answer to this question, but according to the Court of Arbitration for Sports, it would have caused Valieva “irreparable harm” to be disqualified. If irreparable harm is the factor that keeps Kamila Valieva in the games, then we all owe Richardson a heartfelt apology. Her mother passed away, and she was informed in a way that would’ve crushed anyone, and yet she had to sit out a career-changing and life-altering moment because she grieved in the way that brought her a moment of relief.
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Resurfaced video of French skier's groin incident has people giving the announcer a gold medal
"The boys took a beating on that one."
Downhill skiing is a sport rife with injuries, but not usually this kind.
A good commentator can make all the difference when watching sports, even when an event goes smoothly. But it's when something goes wrong that great announcers rise to the top. There's no better example of a great announcer in a surprise moment than when French skier Yannick Bertrand took a gate to the groin in a 2007 super-G race.
Competitive skiers fly down runs at incredible speeds, often exceeding 60 mph. Hitting something hard at that speed would definitely hurt, but hitting something hard with a particularly sensitive part of your body would be excruciating. So when Bertrand slammed right into a gate family-jewels-first, his high-pitched scream was unsurprising. What was surprising was the perfect commentary that immediately followed.
This is a clip you really just have to see and hear to fully appreciate:
- YouTube youtu.be
It's unclear who the announcer is, even after multiple Google inquiries, which is unfortunate because that gentleman deserves a medal. The commentary gets better with each repeated viewing, with highlights like:
"The gate the groin for Yannick Bertrand, and you could hear it. And if you're a man, you could feel it."
"Oh, the Frenchman. Oh-ho, monsieurrrrrr."
"The boys took a beating on that one."
"That guy needs a hug."
"Those are the moments that change your life if you're a man, I tell you what."
"When you crash through a gate, when you do it at high rate of speed, it's gonna hurt and it's going to leave a mark in most cases. And in this particular case, not the area where you want to leave a mark."
Imagine watching a man take a hit to the privates at 60 mph and having to make impromptu commentary straddling the line between professionalism and acknowledging the universal reality of what just happened. There are certain things you can't say on network television that you might feel compelled to say. There's a visceral element to this scenario that could easily be taken too far in the commentary, and the inherent humor element could be seen as insensitive and offensive if not handled just right.
The announcer nailed it. 10/10. No notes.
The clip frequently resurfaces during the Winter Olympic Games, though the incident didn't happen during an Olympic event. Yannick Bertrand was competing at the FIS World Cup super-G race in Kvitfjell, Norway in 2007, when the unfortunate accident occurred. Bertrand had competed at the Turin Olympics the year before, however, coming in 24th in the downhill and super-G events.
As painful as the gate to the groin clearly as, Bertrand did not appear to suffer any damage that kept him from the sport. In fact, he continued competing in international downhill and super-G races until 2014.
According to a 2018 study, Alpine skiing is a notoriously dangerous sport with a reported injury rate of 36.7 per 100 World Cup athletes per season. Of course, it's the knees and not the coin purse that are the most common casualty of ski racing, which we saw clearly in U.S. skier Lindsey Vonn's harrowing experiences at the 2026 Olympics. Vonn was competing with a torn ACL and ended up being helicoptered off of the mountain after an ugly crash that did additional damage to her legs, requiring multiple surgeries (though what caused the crash was reportedly unrelated to her ACL tear). Still, she says she has no regrets.
As Bertrand's return to the slopes shows, the risk of injury doesn't stop those who live for the thrill of victory, even when the agony of defeat hits them right in the rocks.