Feb 1 (Reuters) - Kamila Valieva’s comeback got off to an inauspicious start, as the former Olympic prodigy finished sixth in the semi-finals of the Russian Jumping Championships on Sunday in her first competition since serving a four-year doping ban.
The 19-year-old had a bobble on the landing of her opening quadruple toe loop, fell on her second and then finished with a messy double flip, triple Salchow combination.
Unlike traditional skating events, skaters had 90 seconds each to complete a series of jumps only with generic background music playing. The top three advanced to the final.
Nearly four years after her involvement in a doping scandal that marred the 2022 Olympics, Valieva re-entered the spotlight on Saturday in the quarter-finals that featured a clean quad toe loop, a jump that only a small number of female skaters have landed.
Despite her error-filled skate on Sunday, fans waved banners with her name and hurled dozens of plush toys on the ice afterwards.
