On April 26, during a show about figure skating "The Rink", Russian figure skating world champion Dmitry Medvedeva suddenly announced that the grandfather of Russian figure skating genius Kamila Valieva had died. Valieva's grandfather was a key figure in Valieva's drug case, and Valieva had previously claimed in her confession that the banned substance had entered her through a strawberry dessert because her grandfather would prepare desserts for her on a cutting board, and he would usually crush anti-angina pills containing trimetazidine with a wooden board.
PyeongChang women's figure skating silver medallist Dmitry Medvedeva hugs Valieva
On the same day, Medvedeva denied her claims and apologized for the misinformation she sent. The figure skater blamed her mistake on lack of sleep and nervousness, which led her to confuse Valieva's grandfather with her grandmother, who she lost a few years ago. In addition, Medvedeva personally called Valieva to apologize.
This incident did not receive attention from the foreign media, especially the Japanese media. But on Yahoo, many Japanese users discussed the news, including Medvedeva who has repeatedly hinted at a romance with Japanese figure skating god Yuzuru Hanyu in the past. The following are the comments of some Japanese netizens:
Valieva claimed that she may have violated the prohibition ordinance because of the strawberry dessert
CJW***: Now it's better not to talk about other people's relatives. She (Medvedeva) recently hinted at her past relationship with Hanyu, but apparently nothing happened. Hanyu himself denied this, and there has been no contact between them since. Russian figure skaters, however, evoke a sense of nostalgia. I love the performance of the Russians, so I'm sorry to see the current situation (the Russian figure skating team is currently out of the international arena).
Dan******** I think the problem with doping is not with the figure skaters themselves, but with whether they are forced to take it by their coaches or whether they take it themselves. Even if there is a misunderstanding, positive tests already exist. Etri Tutberidze's team has a huge stain that tarnishes the figure skating competition.
In an interview, Medvedeva suspected of admitting her relationship with Hanyu Yuzuru back then, and also revealed that her ex-boyfriend broke up with her after two years of dating.
YYO***: If Medvedeva had not engaged in activities beneficial to Russia, she could have been lifted from sanctions, I think the political demands at that time were like this. As for the rumors that she is Hanyu's "ex-girlfriend", she did not claim to be dating him.
CJW*** She (Medvedeva) doesn't claim to be Hanyu's ex-girlfriend, but always hints at it, let alone who she's referring to. However, she appears to be calling someone close to her, but when someone asks her to name the person, she desperately tries to stop it. I think she will continue to do this, because if you ask her ex-boyfriend directly if it is Hanyu Yuzuru, she will once again categorically deny everything.
Valieva at the Beijing Winter Olympics
After finishing silver in the women's singles at PyeongChang, Medvedeva left Etri Tutberidze's coaching staff and moved to Canada to train under Brian Orsser. She traveled to Japan in the spring of 2020 to participate in an ice show, but due to the strict restrictions of the pandemic, she was unable to fly to Canada and returned to Russia to work with Tutberidze again. However, due to health issues, Medvedeva has been unable to continue competing.