Ep. 238: The Figure Skating Fiasco, Explained

**CONTENT WARNING: This episode contains discussions of abuse, eating disorders and death by suicide.** In this episode Brenda Elsey, Lindsay Gibbs and Jessica Luther break down the figure skating doping controversy at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics. They start the show, however, with Olympic moments that were fuzzy and cute. Then, they decipher what happened in the mess of the women's figure skating conclusion that started when Russian teenager Kamila Valieva tested positive for a banned substance on February 7. They discuss everything from the troubling, yet celebrated, coach Eteri Tutberidze, to what the heck trimetazidine is and what the hell the ROC is doing with it, to the alphabet soup (WADA, RUSADA, IOC, CAS ) that is "governing" the debacle. They also talk about the harm that this fiasco has caused Valieva, as well as gold medalist Anna Shcherbakova, silver medalist Alexandra Trusova and bronze medalist Kaori Sakamoto, as well as the damaging impacts that the culture of figure skating has on it's athletes, especially teenagers. Following this discussion, you'll hear a preview of Shireen's interview with Billy Bridges, a Paralympic gold medalist and sledge hockey legend. Then, the team burns the worst of the sports this week on The Burn Pile. Next, they lift up those making sports better, including Torchbearer of the Week Sarah Nurse, Canadian women's hockey player and gold medalist who set an Olympic record of 18 points in the Beijing Games. She's also the only Black female hockey player to compete in the Olympics. They wrap up the show with what's good in their lives and what they are watching in sports this week. This episode was produced by Tressa Versteeg. Shelby Weldon is our social media and website specialist. Burn It All Down is part of the Blue Wire podcast network. For show notes, transcripts, and more info about BIAD, check out our website: www.burnitalldownpod.com To help support the Burn It All Down podcast, please consider becoming a patron: www.patreon.com/burnitalldown For BIAD merchandise: https://www.bonfire.com/store/burn-it-all-down/ Find us on Twitter: twitter.com/BurnItDownPod; Facebook: www.facebook.com/BurnItAllDownPod/; and Instagram: www.instagram.com/burnitalldownpod/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices