Russian figure skating phenom Kamila Valieva struggled badly in a controversial free skate and finished fourth on Thursday at the Beijing Olympics.
Had she reached the podium in the women's event, the 15-year-old would not have received a medal because she is at the centre of a doping scandal.
Valieva, the heavy favourite, fell twice and struggled on a couple of other landings. She put her hands over her face afterward in obvious disappointment.
Russians Anna Shcherbakova and Alexandra Trusova finished first and second, respectively. Japan's Kaori Sakamoto was third.
And so, after all that, we have an award ceremony.
In a story full of crazy twists, this may be the craziest one yet. pic.twitter.com/mtUOqDj1MQ— Tom Schad (@Tom_Schad) February 17, 2022
Canada's Madeline Schizas finished 18th.
Valieva tested positive for a banned heart medication at the Russian championships in December. But the result wasn't announced until last week, shortly after the Russians won the team event.
She was cleared to compete earlier this week by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which ruled among other things that she had protected status as a minor and would suffer "irreparable harm" if she was not allowed to perform. The court did not rule on the full scope of the case, leaving that to a more comprehensive investigation later.
But because of Valieva's situation, the International Olympic Committee decided there would be no flower or medal ceremony if she placed among the top three skaters. The IOC feared she could someday be stripped of her medal.
The IOC has said there would be an asterisk beside both the women's and team results and that they would be considered preliminary.
That prompted a statement from the Russian Olympic Committee, saying "we strongly disagree."
IOC president Thomas Bach has reportedly offered to give U.S. figure skaters Olympic torches as a holdover gift while they await a final verdict on the figure skating team event standings.
The Associated Press reported the offer by Bach to the U.S. Olympians, citing "two people familiar with the events." The torches -- which were used during the pre-Games torch relay -- have already been given to team staff to be presented to the athletes, the AP report adds.
The United States team, headlined by men's singles champion Nathan Chen, won the silver medal in the team event. But the medals have yet to be presented because of a doping case involving the Russian team -- who won gold.
-- With files from The Associated Press
