Kamila Valieva’s comeback to competition was meant to mark a new chapter. Instead, it opened with a reminder of how complicated her story remains.
The former Olympic prodigy finished sixth in the semifinals of the Russian Jumping Championships on Sunday, missing out on the final in her first sanctioned competition since completing a four-year doping ban.
Errors piled up quickly: a shaky landing on her opening quadruple toe loop, a fall on her second attempt and a scrappy closing combination that sealed her exit.
The event itself was unconventional. Skaters were given 90 seconds to complete a jump-only program, skating to generic background music rather than choreographed routines. Only the top three advanced.
Still, Valieva’s presence alone dominated the arena. Fans unfurled banners bearing her name and showered the ice with plush toys, a familiar scene for a skater who once stood at the center of the sport, and of its deepest controversy.
A day earlier, the 19-year-old had hinted at what once made her exceptional. In the quarterfinals, she landed a clean quad toe loop, a jump mastered by only a handful of women worldwide, briefly reigniting memories of her historic rise.
Valieva was just 15 when she became the face of the 2022 Beijing Olympics, first as a trailblazer, then as a cautionary tale. She helped Russia win team gold, becoming the first female skater to land a quadruple jump at the Games. The celebration collapsed days later when a sample taken two months earlier tested positive for trimetazidine, a banned heart medication.
The result was seismic. Russia was stripped of team gold, elevating the United States to the top of the podium.
Under intense scrutiny, Valieva unraveled in the women’s event, finishing fourth after a disastrous free skate and enduring public criticism from her coach, Eteri Tutberidze, on live television.
The fallout reshaped the sport. The International Skating Union later raised the Olympic minimum age to 17.
Valieva left Tutberidze’s camp and joined the Navka skating academy in Moscow, where she trained while serving a retrospective four-year ban that expired in late December.
During her absence, she remained visible, starring in major ice shows, earning praise for her theatrical performances, hosting charity events and cultivating a large social media following.
When her suspension officially ended, she marked the moment with a photo surrounded by flowers and a balloon reading: "It’s only just beginning.”
Sunday suggested the beginning may be uneven.
Valieva remains ineligible for the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics, which begin Friday.
Russia’s top skaters continue to be barred from international competition, leaving three-time national champion Adeliia Petrosian to compete as an Individual Neutral Athlete and one of the contenders for the women’s title.
For Valieva, the Olympic road stretches far ahead. At 19, the earliest possible return to the Games would be 2030, a distant target in a sport that rarely waits.