Kamila Valieva

I am just going to comment just once on this Russian skater girl. Whether she doped or not, is irrelevant, Whether she knew or understood, is equally irrelevant. She did what she did, and she must bear the consequences, without exception, or purpose of evasion. She should have been disqualified. Making the other competitors wait for their medals, is the anthesis of what the Olympics are supposed to be about. The Committee needs to vacate every medal she won. They need to come down in her hard, and it needs to be very public.

That being said, I feel sadness, and empathy for the little girl. Because that all she is. She is 15, and still immature. She will be lucky if this doesn't break her, and that is too young to be broken in spirit. She still has the talent to go far, but she needs is the spirit, and the drive that comes with spirit. Experience, spirit, and character, will all come with age. Hell, my car is older than that little girl. Perhaps she needs to be left alone to be a little girl again. A little girl with no more responsibility than herself, and her social media footprint. Maybe she needs to be left alone to be a regular person.

She is another victim of what I call the sword of promise. The sword is two edged instrument of success or failure. The burden of carrying it, is outweighed only by the depth at which it cuts. It is great to be young and have promise. The trick is to cut a path of success with it, and not a path of destruction in life. With great promise comes great expectations, and with them both pressure, and fear. Fear of failure, and disappointment. Not a disappointment in oneself, but disappointing others. I just hope she is ok, like I said, she is too young to be broken in spirit. She can still do great things, on the ice or off. She just needs the will.