Russia's Valieva takes first place in women's short program

Kamila Valieva of the Russian Olympic Committee Kyodo News

Russian skater Kamila Valieva takes first place in women's short program

By Victor Barbosa | Last updated 2/15/22

One day after it was announced that Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva would be cleared to compete during the Olympics, the 15-year-old captured first place in the women's short program on Tuesday.

"The teen phenom, who has been at the center of a doping scandal at the Games, received a score of 82.16 despite stumbling on her opening triple axel to lead Russia," the Athletic reported. "Valieva was cleared to compete by the Court of Arbitration for Sport despite a failed drug test in December. The teen tested positive for trimetazidine, a heart medication. However, the Russian Anti-Doping Agency decided to lift her provisional suspension on Feb. 8, allowing her to compete in Beijing, where she helped the Russian Olympic Committee earn the gold medal in the team figure skating event last week."

The Athletic further noted that Valieva recently became the first woman to land a quad jump at the Olympics during the team event, and she is the favorite for gold in women's singles. Russian teammate Anna Shcherbakova placed second on Tuesday with score of 80.20, while Kaori Sakamoto of Japan was third with 79.84.

Alysa Liu was the top American finisher, coming in eighth place with 69.50 points.

The group will next compete at the free skate on Thursday.

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