That heartbreaking women’s figure skating final may be the worst moment of Olympic competition on television I’ve ever witnessed. The horror of it is is that ratings probably went up.
Even IOC president Thomas Bach was quoted on Friday saying it had been “chilling” to witness 15-year-old Russian skater Kamila Valieva fold under pressure during and after her final skate. Then there was her coach Eteri Tutberidze’s heartless condemnation as Valieva stepped off the ice. The girl needed a mom in that moment, and got a monster.
Praised as the best she’d ever seen heading into these Olympics by former figure skating gold medalist and NBC commentator Tara Lapinski, Valieva was already under so much pressure. Allowed to skate despite the positive doping result, she stumbled and fell throughout the routine. It was a nightmare, made worse to the unrelenting taunting of “Bolero.”
The teenager was set up for this fall. She was expected to skate like a champion despite a flawed ruling on a doping scandal that called so much into question — her real abilities and future health; the ethics of her coaching staff; the spirit of these modern Games.
Not entirely suddenly, but with new intensity, the whole idea of thrusting minors under this international microscope was called into question. The mental health issues raised when heavily-favoured American gymnast Simone Biles withdrew from most of her events in the Summer games were back on the front burner.
Even more naked and revealing was the scene immediately after medal rankings were announced. Humiliation has powered reality shows to the top of the ratings podium for over 20 years on television. This was no Big Brother or Batchelor rejection, however. This was child abuse on an international level that was a gut punch to even the most ardent Olympics fan.
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Things got worse as the cameras allowed no escape in the “kiss and cry” area. The shocking rage and unsportsman-like behaviour of the silver medalist, Alexandra Trusova (above), was astounding. Yes, her five quad jumps would test the limits of any male athlete. Marked lower for artistic abilities, she could not accept coming second to her Russian teammate Anna Sherherbakova. “I will never go on the ice, I hate it. It’s impossible,” she raged in english in the after-skate fortress of hell. “Everyone has a gold medal but me.”
“You knew everything,” she said, glaring at her coach. All that was missing, drama-wise, were dragons and a throne.
It got more and more disturbing. Surprise bronze medalist Kaori Sakamoto could not stop crying. That they were tears of joy just seemed to add to the confusion.
Almost fogotten amidst the chaos, gold medalist Sherherbakova, stood alone, in front of an empty bench. The 17-year-old clung to one of those Beijing teddy bears, eyes darting as the meltdown all around her washed away her triumph. The camera lingered mercilessly. It seemed like minutes passed before an adult gave her a hug.
Early reports that NBC’s figure skating commentators Lapinski and Johnny Weir had stayed mum throughout Valieva’s skate out of protest missed what was really happening. They could not speak because the whole thing made them sick.
NBC and CBC will take the bump in ratings for what has been a dissapointing Games, but executives at broadcast networks on both sides of the border must be feeling a little queasy as well. The big, two week television event mean’t to take every viewers mind off a world on fire just gave us something even uglier to look at. Let the Games end.
