peaking only to flame out

In honor of this year's Olympic season: the story of Russian doping yet again this time in the Olympics' flagship sport of figure skating has dominated headlines. A complex story in short form: a 15 year old Russian skater made history by landing a jump of 4 turns in the air. She was subsequently suspended after she tested positive for banned substances in a sample from December.

The item that caught my eye was the following criticism about teen athletes in a side note of an interview with skating champion, Adam Rippon. 

What is this elite place on a podium worth if it leads so perilously close to physical and psychological injury, as in happens so often in other sports and in music. Even if an artists does arrive at the top, what happens when that place wreaks havoc on one's sense of internal equilibrium?

Former Olympic figure skater Adam Rippon: 

The saddest part [about the doping scandal] is that as a sport, and people who are fans of the Olympics, we want to celebrate that. That's amazing. The way that Kamila Valieva was able to skate in that team competition is amazing. Every program she did, I was one of the first people to stand up because I was in awe of what I was seeing. And, they ruined that. They ruined that for her, and they ruined it for all of us who really were so excited that there was this incredible talent.

Who is they?
The adults around her. Valieva is 15. I doubt very much she knowingly doped. She's a minor. The adults completely failed her.

[The successful coach Eteri Tutberidze is the adult most directly significant to Valieva's career. There are no public allegations, or evidence, that Tutberidze had anything to do with Valieva's positive drug test. But reports say Valieva and her quad-landing teammates Alexandra Trusova and Anna Shcherbakova — who are also medal favorites in Beijing — are the latest in a string of teenage champions coming out of Tutberidze's camp. Champions who essentially peak in their teens and then retire, often because of injury and after experiencing questionable practices regarding diet restrictions and over-training.]

photo via {twitter}

interview via {npr}