The scene that unfolded on Thursday morning in Beijing during the Women’s Figure Skating competition — watching Kamila Valieva, the 15-year-old thrust into the center of Russia’s doping scandal, struggle so publicly — was disheartening on many levels. It also capped off a terrible week for the sport of figure skating, the Olympic Games, the Olympic movement — and, most of all, the women involved.
The women competing have spent their lives sacrificing normalcy — and their health — at a chance to be number one in the world. And this is where we have a problem.
The Olympic creed is that the most important thing in the Olympic Games is not to win but to take part. But how can one take part when they are broken down? Something needs to change. Here’s how that change could start.
Update the Scoring System
Exploiting the scoring system shouldn’t result in exploiting…
