TikTalk: Doping scandal hits the Olympics and TikTok
There is a huge sense of pride and joy that comes with the Olympics. This year’s winter games in Beijing created moments that resonate with so many fans — Shaun White’s last Olympic run, Eileen Gu’s gold medal games and Erin Jackson becoming the first Black woman to medal — not just that, a gold medal — in speed skating.
The Olympics aren’t always fun and games, pun intended. They have often stirred political unrest and as we have seen recently, a doping scandal.
15-year-old Russian figure skater and gold medal favorite Kamila Valieva tested positive for trimetazidine, a banned heart medication, on Feb. 7. Two days after the positive test came to light, and only one day before the individual women’s short program on Feb. 15, The Court of Arbitration for Sport released a statement allowing Valieva to continue to skate.
So why was she allowed to skate? The panel concluded that Valieva was not responsible for the delay in results from the lab that tested her sample, which took 44 days to process. It was taken on Dec. 25 for the Russian National Championships and was not flagged for a positive result until Feb. 7.
People on TikTok were not happy with this decision because the story sounded very similar to the drug scandal of the summer Olympics when United States sprinter Sha’Carri Richardson tested positive for marijuana in her system.
This story did not have the same outcome as Valieva’s (who ended up placing fourth in the women’s long program skate). Richardson was suspended for a month and effectively disqualified from competing in the Summer Olympics because of her positive test.
Richardson herself expressed her own frustration with the International Olympic Committee, tweeting:
“Can we get a solid answer on the difference between her situation and mine? My mother died and I can’t run and was also favored to place top 3. The only difference I see is I’m a young black lady.”
Especially since THC isn’t considered a performance-enhancing drug and trimetazidine is. While it is no secret that race may have had a huge part in the decision of these situations, in fact there are quite a few factors at play that led to the rulings.
For wstarters, in Richardson’s case the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency banned her from competing, not the IOC. Even though the World Anti-Doping Agency does consider marijuana a banned substance, if the IOC had the chance to take a look at Richarson’s case, like they did Valieva’s, she might not have been banned.
Secondly, Valieva is only 15 years old. In her doping scandal, her being a minor had a lot to do with the result of the case. The Russian figure skating world has a reputation of being extremely intense and putting an immense amount of pressure on their athletes to win no matter what. Behind closed doors, we have no idea what Russian figure skating coaches are forcing their athletes to do and the potential abuse that is happening.
In an interview with “National Public Radio,” former Olympic figure skater Adam Rippon said:
“Valieva is 15. I doubt very much she knowingly doped. She’s a minor. The adults completely failed her.”
Yes, these cases are different, and the points of Valieva being a minor are completely warranted. However, there are definitely double standards and white privilege at play. TikTok has been a tool in uncovering these problems and perspectives.
@mr.jahko perfectly summed up the anger that so many other Black Tiktokers were expressing about this case:
“So we barely made it to the third week of Black History Month and I’m already fired up with the foolishness … Just call it what it is, it’s white privilege … Remember how a year ago they didn’t let Sha’Carri Richardson compete in the Olympics because she had a positive drug test, but ya’ll could let Kamila compete. I told ya’ll this was more than the drugs.”
TikToker @consiciouslee explained it best when summarizing the comparison of Richardson and Valieva’s scandals:
“My papa used to always say … they protection is in they complexion.”
Both Richardson’s and Valieva’s cases and the discussions that are taking place on TikTok bring to light that there is a dark history behind the Olympics. There is blatant racism, there is minor abuse and threats to host cities. The IOC needs to look at what is happening behind the scenes of these competitions and reevaluate what is considered a true threat to the integrity of the games. A dose of marijuana in one’s system is but a small offense when compared to the adult coaches that see athletes as nothing but pawns, not people, in the quest to win gold for their countries.
Trinity Gomez is a senior writing about TikTok and popular culture. Her column, “TikTalk,” runs every other Thursday.