"I think that moment hurt a lot of people for a lot of reasons. There are a lot of athletes who felt unfair about the fact that there was this whole doping thing and that "she was still allowed to compete. And then there's a lot of empathy for her too, because we all put ourselves in her place and we all felt how bad her position was super, super difficult and unfair," says Papadakis.

Russian Kamila Valieva falls during her free figure skating program on February 17, 2022 at the Beijing Olympics Anne-Christine POUJOULAT AFP / Archives

"I think everyone agreed that she should never have been put in that position. It's very sad," she adds.

Valieva, 15 and a favorite for Olympic gold in her first senior winter, was cleared to compete individually at the last minute after a positive trimetazidine doping test arose in the middle of the Beijing Games.

In the lead after the short program, the young Russian imploded in the free program, and finished at the foot of the Olympic podium, in heartbreaking sobs not comforted by her icy coach Eteri Tutberidze.

Russian Kamila Valieva after her free program at the 2022 Olympics on February 17, 2022 in Beijing Manan VATSYAYANA, - AFP/Archives

Asked about the measure aimed at raising the minimum age from 15 to 17 to compete as seniors that the International Skating Federation (ISU) will propose at its next congress in June, "my first impression is that it is a good thing," said Cizeron.

"Because you actually see a lot of little kids, they're almost children at that age, brought to the top of the podium, then thrown right after. They have careers that are very short. I don't know in which measure it impacts their life after (but) I can't imagine that it's necessarily something extremely positive, he develops. I have the impression that it will perhaps allow them to have more longevity, and therefore to have more time to gain in maturity. That should probably make the competition more interesting, because it's true that we want to see mature skating. There, it's children who jump."

Russian Kamila Valieva, during her short program of the team event at the Beijing Olympics, February 6, 2022 WANG Zhao AFP / Archives

"I especially hope that there will be investigations that will be made and that we can ensure that all over the world, all athletes evolve in healthy environments, with caring people around them", underlines Papadakis .

Valieva's young age - less than sixteen - makes her a "protected person" within the meaning of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and implies, in addition to reduced sanctions, the investigation of those around her - an element already announced the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (Rusada) and WADA.

© 2022 AFP