At the end of what was a difficult week for the Russian Olympic Committee women’s ice skating team, a silver medal wasn’t enough to keep emotions from spilling out of Alexandra Trusova.
Moments after the results of the competition were revealed and after Trusova saw she won silver behind her teammate Anna Shcherbakova, broadcast cameras captured Trusova crying in the post-competition “kiss-and-cry” area.
“Everyone has a medal, everyone has, but I don’t!” Trusova said in Russian during the broadcast, according to a translation by USA TODAY video producer Anastasiia Riddle. “I hate it all. I’m never going to … never …”
Trusova did not finish her sentence and didn’t say explicitly that she would never skate again, as some translations have indicated. When asked after the competition about her comments and whether they meant she would never skate again, Trusova told reporters, “We’ll see.”
The ROC, and particularly 15-year-old Kamila Valieva, were the focus of intense scrutiny over the past week after Valieva was found to have tested positive for a banned substance. Valieva was provisionally suspended by the Russian Anti-Doping Agency but then was reinstated by a RUSADA disciplinary committee upon appeal.
With the prospect of Valieva being allowed to compete in one of the most high-profile events of the Winter Olympics, a trio of international sports bodies — the International Olympic Committee, World Anti-Doping Agency and International Skating Union — all filed appeals to the Court of Arbitration to Sport, asking a panel of arbitrators to reimpose the suspension.
Instead, CAS ruled in her favor.
The IOC, however, announced this week that it would not hold a medal ceremony or award presentation after Thursday’s competition if Valieva finished inside the top three, insisting that any results would be “preliminary” until her doping case was settled. On Thursday, Valieva put forth a disastrous performance, dropping her to fourth place and out of the podium.
Japanese skater Kaori Sakamoto won bronze.
“I am not happy with the result,” Trusova told reporters after the competition. “There is no happiness.”
Trusova, 17, had been overshadowed by the coverage surrounding Valieva, who was widely considered to be the gold medal favorite. Valieva’s personal best score, for instance, is 272.71, which is also a world record. Valieva’s collapse presented an opportunity for a gold medal, something that has eluded Trusova in her career.
“Over the past three years, I did not win anything,” Trusova told reporters. “I did not win a single important competition and I was trying to explain this by the fact that I was trying to achieve some lofty goals and I have added quadruple jumps. And when I would do this, I would win, I thought. But this didn’t happen. That’s how it is.”
Trusova said she didn’t harbor any ill will toward any of the other skaters and said there were several reasons for her show of emotion. Trusova, her teammates, and skaters of all different countries have faced several questions about Valieva’s case, doping, and age limits on the competition.
“Just because I wanted to cry, so I cried,” Trusova said. “I’ve been here for three weeks, alone without my mom, without the dogs, so I am crying.”
According to a document filed by WADA, Valieva’s lawyers have claimed she must have ingested trimetazidine accidentally by way of medication that her grandfather takes. She was granted the opportunity to compete in the individual event, in part, because she is 15 – making her a “protected person” under WADA code.
WADA has said it plans to investigate Valieva’s entourage, which would presumably include her coach, Eteri Tutberidze. Tutberidze also coaches Shcherbakova and Trusova.
“Everything was enough for me,” Trusova said. “I did everything. And after, it is out of my hands.
“In the short and in the free (programs) I did everything I could. I am content with my programs. I am happy with my performances. I did everything that I could.”
Contributing: Anastasiia Riddle, Tom Schad
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Russian skater Alexsandra Trusova stunned with silver at Beijing Games