Adam Rippon Shreds Russian Olympic Doping Scandal With 2 Blistering Words

“I am so angry," the former U.S. figure skater, who is coaching American skater Mariah Bell in Beijing, said in a furious Twitter thread.
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Former U.S. figure skater Adam Rippon on Monday slammed the women’s figure skating competition at the 2022 Winter Olympics as “a complete joke” following the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s decision to allow Russia’s Kamila Valieva to still compete despite a failed drug test.

“Fuck this,” a furious Rippon tweeted in a lengthy thread calling for Valieva, 15, to be sent home and banned from the Games, while also showing empathy for the teenager caught up in Russia’s doping scandal that has seen its athletes banned from competing under their own flag in Beijing.

“Every other athlete in this competition is having their whole Olympic experience altered to accommodate an athlete with a FAILED test,” wrote Rippon, who won bronze in Pyeongchang in 2018 and is coaching U.S. figure skater Mariah Bell at the Games. “The entire ROC should not be here. They’ve exploited a child for results and continue to cheat and suffer no consequences.”

“None of this is fair,” he continued. “You can be heartbroken for this 15 year old girl and at the same time be heartbroken that every other skater in this event will have to compete knowing that the competition is not clean.”

On Monday, the International Olympic Committee said it would “not be appropriate” to hold a medal ceremony for the event if Valieva wins a medal.

“I am so angry,” said Rippon. “The ladies event tomorrow is a complete joke. It’s not a real competition and it most likely won’t even have a medal ceremony. So many Olympic experiences stolen from clean athletes who got here without the help of performance enhancing drugs. What a shame.”

Read Rippon’s full Twitter thread here:

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