Kamila Valieva: Russian skater in gold medal position in individual event

At the start, a stumble. At the end, tears. In between, a brush with perfection.

And, amid the extraordinary tumult and torment of the past six days, Kamila Valieva did what she was trained to do: deliver when it matters.

After the first program of the women’s single skating at Beijing’s Capital Indoor Stadium, the 15-year-old leads on 82.16, less than two points ahead of her Russian Olympic Federation teammate Anna Shcherbakova. The Japanese skater Kaori Sakamoto, who scored 78.84, lies third.

It wasn’t a perfect routine. No sooner had the opening bars of In Memoriam by Kirill Richter ended than Valieva wobbled and came dangerously close to falling on her first jump, the triple axel. But with the world’s gaze on her after her positive drugs test, she was able to refocus and scored top marks on her remaining elements.

To do so with the world’s spotlight on her, with many questioning whether the 15-year-old Russian should still be in Beijing, was certainly impressive.

But long before she stepped gracefully onto the ice the British skater Nastasha McKay was blunt when asked whether the Russian should be competing: “I wish it was a level playing field and it’s not, but they’ve made a decision they’ve made and I can’t do anything about that.”

When invited to express sympathy for the 15-year-old, the Briton then deftly diverted her attention elsewhere. “I have sympathy for whoever will be on the podium who won’t be receiving their medals,” she replied. “It’s the most important part of the Olympics and they won’t get that chance.”

The Swedish staker Josefin Taljegard refused to directly criticise Valieva but made her critique more subtly. “I think fair play is important,” she said. “Something inside me thinks it’s sad. I try