International press comments on the performance of figure skater Kamila Valiewa in the free program at the Olympic Games in Beijing after the doping allegations against the 15-year-old:

Russia

"Sport Express":

"Kamila Valiyeva did her best and she can already be called a heroine for stepping onto the ice.

But the circumstances she faced had to impact her performance.

(...) Unfortunately, the dream of millions did not come true.”

USA

Yahoo Sports:

"Olympic figure skating hit a new low Thursday night, a cold tragedy of abuse and pain played out over three and a half hours.

When it was over, the Russians dominated the podium, the figure skaters reached new heights in grace and athleticism, a ceremony awarded medals to the deserving winners... and almost everyone looked miserable as if they were at a loved one's funeral be."

Washington Post:

Kamila Valiyeva's torment will be the sad legacy of the Beijing Games.

These will forever be the Olympia that tormented a 15 year old.

With the results in, the true cost of the doping scandal - as well as the questionable harshness that Russia's great rotary revolution has brought us - became apparent.

A competition is disrupted, skaters are marked, and no one is sure what's coming next.”

Great Britain

Guardian:

A question hung at Capital Indoor Stadium as Kamila Valiyeva's head dropped to her ankles, the tear duct refused to close and the Olympic dream of the greatest figure skater in history fell horribly to the ground.

Was it all really worth it?

The negotiations and global uproar over the past week have been far beyond what a 15-year-old should endure.”

"Daily Mail":

"When it was all over, after the storm, the bitterness, the falls, so many falls, a broken child covered her face and cried.

Kamila Valiyeva had lost and was lost.

(...) Maybe we will find some answers in the future.

Probably not.

But what we do know is that a 15-year-old was buried under the weight of a global scandal on her shoulders on Thursday night."

France

"Le Figaro":

"For almost five minutes, the world witnessed live the collapse of a 15-year-old figure skater.

Overwhelmed by the pressure and the consequences of a positive doping control.

Those games in Beijing should have been Kamila Valiyeva's accession to the throne.

The culmination of a meteoric rise (...).

Everything pointed to a royal road to Beijing and a first Olympic title.

Before the situation completely slips away from her and a huge mess erupts.”

L'Équipe:

So that's it.

A collapse in front of the whole world.

(...) One fall, then two.

The feeling that four minutes is too long.”

Italy

"Gazzetta dello Sport":

"Falling star.

Collapse of Valiyeva.

And her fourth place saves the world from an embarrassment.

Because there will be no medal with an asterisk.

The 15-year-old Russian is overwhelmed by the doping case.”

Corriere della Sera:

Kamila breaks.

Double victory of the Russians with psychodrama.

The saddest gold of the Beijing Games goes to Russia.

Kamila Valiyeva collapses under the pressure of the medal she should have won.

Kamila cries as the age of innocence ends abruptly.

She arrived in China as a child prodigy and leaves the country besmirched as a former exceptional performer.”

"La Repubblica":

"The Tears of Valiyeva.

Now her career is a leap into the unknown.

She slips and falls, the Russian team is already celebrating other stars.

It ends one of the saddest chapters of the Olympic Games as dictated days ago.”

Spain

"El País":

"The pressure sinks Kamila, who doesn't make it onto the podium.

(...) In the poisoned air of Beijing, the "Bolero" did not accompany a triumphal procession, as is usually the case, but rather a kind of requiem for Kamila Valiyeva, whose score is only enough for fourth place."

“El Mundo Deportivo”:

“The Russian ended her participation in China in tears and without a medal with a program full of mistakes that left her no chance of an Olympic podium.

First out of the short program, in the spotlight for her positive doping test, amidst the war between different sports organizations over the ongoing debate over her guilt or innocence, Kamila Valiyeva has been reminded of the inescapable reality: she is still only a 15-year-old girl .”