Lori Falce: Why doesn't Russia play by the rules?

The rules never seem to be the rules in Russia.

Not when it comes to politics or borders or even sports.

It might seem ironic that the Russia-Ukraine situation is escalating in tensions at the same time the world’s athletes are gathered in China in what is supposed to be a quadrennial show of the triumph of sportsmanship over political divides.

Except that the word ironic is often misused; it really means a result that is the opposite of what is expected. Nothing is more predictable than Russia playing outside the lines.

Now the whole world waits to see what happens with the potential invasion of Ukraine by Russia. NATO allies say Vladimir Putin is playing misleading games and has 150,000 troops waiting to do just that, and the second in command at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow was kicked out of the country Thursday. Meanwhile, the more sparkly but equally questionable show is happening in Beijing.

And it shouldn’t be.

The focal point of the Russian Olympic problem has been Kamila Valieva, the 15-year-old superstar who was roundly expected to skate away with the gold until it was revealed that she failed a drug test. Not during the Olympics. Not right before her short program that left her teary and in first place. Not before her awful free skate Thursday in which she fell repeatedly and ended up in fourth place with no medal.

Nope. The failed drug test was in December. The drug in question was trimetazidine. Valieva said it must have been a mix-up with her grandfather’s heart medication as TMZ is used to increase heart function and blood flow — both things that can be beneficial in skating fast and jumping high. The Court of Arbitration for Sport said she actually tested positive for three heart medications, only one of which was banned.

Heart experts told Time magazine the grandfather story is “far-fetched.” Russian excuses often are. Or perhaps they just seem that way because they are so prevalent.

After all, Valieva and the rest of the Russians in Beijing should not even be competing. The Russian team was banned from participation after state-orchestrated doping when the country hosted the 2014 games in Sochi. The World Anti-Doping Agency says more than 150 Russian athletes have been found to use performance-enhancing drugs, more than any other country.

So why does Russia have 26 medals in the 2022 Olympics thus far? Because Russia the country isn’t participating. Instead it’s the Russian Olympic Committee, a distinction with absolutely no practical difference.

Why was this OK with the other countries participating in the Olympics or with the International Olympic Committee? Probably for the same reason Russia gets away with poisoning Putin critics, hacking and border encroachment.

Russia plays by its own rules and no one else’s, and those rules seem to change depending on what works best for Russia. If only there were a gold medal for that.