Russian President Vladimir Putin defended Russian figure skater Camilla Balieva, 16, who caused a doping controversy at the Beijing Winter Olympics in February.
British daily The Guardian reported on the 26th (local time) that President Putin held an awards ceremony to encourage and reward athletes who won medals at the Beijing Olympics on the same day at the Kremlin.
According to The Guardian, Putin praised Balieva in particular, saying, “Through his work, he brought sports to true art.”
“I know very well that figure skating doesn’t require drugs,” he added.
Balieva, who was selected as a strong contender for the women’s singles division in figure skating at the last Beijing Winter Olympics, was embroiled in a ‘doping scandal’ after a doping sample collected in December last year was found to contain a prohibited substance.
After many twists and turns, he participated in the individual exhibition, and fell down several times during the performance due to mental burden, etc.
Domestic broadcasters also responded with silent broadcasts while Balieva, who was forced to participate in the ‘doping controversy’ at the time, was acting.
When Balieva appeared in the last order, commentators from the three terrestrial broadcasters KBS, MBC, and SBS silently boycotted them.
Previously, the three terrestrial broadcasters had silently responded to Balieva’s performance during the women’s single short program broadcast. This is a protest against Balieva, who also participated in a doping-positive test.
On this day, KBS commentator Kwak Min-jung and caster Nam Hyun-jong did not say a word until Balieva’s acting was over. Commentator Kwak Min-jung, a former national team member, criticized, “It is natural for the participating players to bear responsibility regardless of who made it up or who made the mistake.” He also showed a tearful look, saying, “When I see a thin, young athlete running 4 rounds, I must have been exercising for nothing.”
SBS commentator Lee Ho-jeong and caster Lee Hyun-kyung also remained silent for the 4 minutes played by Balieva. Commentator Lee Ho-jeong said, “Sports should be fair and clean. It is a natural principle that athletes who violate doping are not allowed to participate.”
MBC commentator Kim Hae-jin and caster Kim Cho-rong mentioned only Balieva’s triple axel and quadruple salcho jump techniques and said, “I tried to comment, but it was not easy to explain to the athlete who tested positive for doping.”
Meanwhile, Putin also expressed his dissatisfaction with the issue of bans on Russian players. Russian players have been banned from international competitions due to the invasion of Ukraine.
Olympic acceptance medalist Evgeny Lilov, who attended a rally in support of the invasion of Ukraine, denounced the nine-month suspension by the International Swimming Federation as “absurd” and “discrimination based on nationality.”
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