Valieva to take to Olympic ice once more amid doping scandal

BEIJING (AP) — Kamila Valieva aims for the top step of a podium she may never see when the Russian figure skating star, now at the center of the latest Olympic doping scandal, concludes her competition Thursday night with the women's free skate at the Beijing Games.

The International Olympic Committee already has said there will be no flower ceremony if Valieva places among the top three finishers, creating an awkward feeling of open-endedness when the event wraps up. There also will be no medal ceremony for the figure skaters because the IOC fears that Valieva someday could be stripped of hers.

“There will be an asterisk against the results, because they will be preliminary obviously pending the investigation,” IOC spokesman Mark Adams said. "Would we prefer not to have all this going on? Absolutely.”

The 15-year-old 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 she had helped win a team gold medal that is now also in doubt.

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. But the court did not rule on the full scope of the case, leaving that to a more comprehensive investigation later.

The court's decision has cast a polarizing shadow over one of the marquee events of the Winter Games.

“Do I feel sorry for her? I don’t think so. I wouldn’t say so,” said Kaori Sakamoto of Japan, who is in third place after her short program. “I’m focusing on the competition. At the moment, I’m actually trying not to think about things like that. Of