BEIJING– As the figure skating world awaits the fate of a Russian teen sensation at the center of a doping scandal at Beijing 2022, South Korean figure skater You Young pressed ahead Sunday with preparation for her Olympic debut.
The start list for the women’s short program was released Sunday, two days before the competition at Capital Indoor Stadium. You will skate 27th among 30 skaters, immediately following Kamila Valieva for the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC), the prohibitive gold medal favorite if she is allowed to compete.
Valieva tested positive for a banned medication in December, but the Russian authorities lifted their suspension on the skater’s appeal. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has appealed that decision, and the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), the top sports tribunal, is expected to announce its ruling Monday.
Valieva, 15, has not missed any practice amid the hoopla around her. On Sunday, she skated at the practice rink adjacent to Capital Indoor Stadium in a group immediately before You and another South Korean skater, Kim Ye-lim, and left without speaking to dozens of reporters gathered at the tiny rink.
Asked about the starting list after her practice, You said the order won’t have any bearing on her performance.
“I am not thinking about who I am skating after,” You said. “Hopefully, I will be able to keep the focus on my own program.”
The starting order for the short program was determined after dividing the field in half based on skaters’ world rankings. The first 15 positions feature lower-ranked skaters, while the remaining 15 were taken up by those who rank higher.
You and Valieva are in the final group of six, along with other medal contenders for the ROC, Alexandra Trusova and Anna Shcherbakova.
The three Russian teenagers are collectively called the “Quad Squad,” for their ability to land quadruple jumps — something that few others, if any, female skaters can do.
Valieva, barely old enough to be eligible for the Olympics, holds the world record scores in the short program (90.45), free skate (185.29) and combined total (272.71). Shcherbakova, 17, is the 2021 world champion, and Trusova, also 17, is the reigning world bronze medalist.
You, whose most difficult jump is a triple axel — with a three-and-a-half rotation on a forward takeoff — belongs in a tier below the Russian trio. And the gap is such that You and other skaters will be essentially vying for fourth place, or maybe a bronze medal.
But if Valieva is disqualified, that will give You an opening, theoretically anyway. It will hinge upon You’s ability to land her triple axel — once in the short program and once more in the free skate. She hasn’t done that consistently this season.
Based on her season-best scores, You is seventh out of 30 in Beijing with 216.97 points.
She executed a clean triple axel during her short program practice Sunday.
“I think it is getting better and better,” You said of her signature jump. “I feel much better physically than the first couple of days here.”
Source: Yonhap News Agency