Katarina Witt in tears over Kamila Valieva situation: 'She's a child'

BEIJING — Katarina Witt, a two-time gold medalist and one of the finest skaters in Olympic history, broke down in tears on live television while discussing the Kamila Valieva situation.

Valieva, 15, fell to fourth place in the women’s individual skating event after helping Russia to win a gold medal earlier in the Olympics. But pressure over a positive drug test and from within Valieva’s own camp spurred Witt to speak up in the young skater’s defense.

“What has happened is exactly what she should have been protected from,” Witt said. “She is 15. She’s a child. I’m sorry. When you see her sitting there, shattered …”

She dissolved into tears, and the host sought to cut away, but Witt soldiered on.

“She was a shadow of herself,” she continued. “She couldn’t win in this whole game whether she had skated perfectly and became Olympic champion. Yes, it would have been debated, but what has now happened is the absolute worst.”

Witt expressed some hope that Valieva could have held up under the immense pressure. “I almost thought maybe she would actually do it,” she said. “Maybe because she was just 15, she could shake it off and say ‘I can do it.’ But there was a political pressure placed on her … I wish someone like her mother or someone responsible would have taken her out of there, put her in a plane home, three months away from this whole mess, before the tsunami which has crashed over her came.”

Close to tears, Witt finished. “It drives you crazy,” she said. “It is so irresponsible, what was done here.”

Valieva competed under the shadow of a positive test she incurred on Dec. 25 for a banned heart medication. The test results were not revealed until after Valieva and the rest of the Russian team had won a gold medal in the team event.

On Facebook, Witt, 56, went even further, saying Valieva can’t be held responsible for the doping.

"As an athlete, you always follow the advice of your confidants, in this case she probably followed her coach and medical team," she wrote. "It is a shame, and the responsible adults should be banned from the sport forever!!! I admire Kamila as a radiant star, who burst into the orbit of the international skating world, and I still very much wish she has come to stay."

Witt is one of many Olympic skaters speaking up on Valieva. Tara Lipinski, herself a 15-year-old Olympian, took issue with the very fact that Valieva was allowed to compete. “This is a slap in the face to the Olympic Games,” she said during one NBC broadcast, “to our sport, and to every athlete that’s ever competed at the Olympics clean.”

On Twitter, she added, “At the end of the day, there was a positive test and there is no question in my mind that she should not be allowed to compete. Regardless of age or timing of the test/results. I believe this will leave a permanent scar on our sport.”

Witt won her first gold medal at age 18 by performing three triples, a sign of how far skating has come — silver medalist Alexandra Trusova completed five quads, and didn’t win gold. But while the athleticism has changed, the spirit remains the same … and Witt, better than almost anyone, understands the importance of protecting the interests of young skaters.