- Mike Tirico came to the defense of Kamila Valieva on Thursday, ripping the adults who "failed to protect her."
- The NBC commentator said Valieva is "in fact, the victim of the villains," Tirico said.
- The teen has been at the center of an Olympics doping scandal and finished fourth after two shocking falls.
Olympic commentator Mike Tirico on Thursday defended 15-year-old Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva after her shocking fourth-place finish in the women's figure skating event — "a competition that made so many angry this week," he said.
"The adults in the room left her alone," Tirico said on a Thursday night broadcast on NBC. "Portrayed by some this week as the villain, by others as the victim. She is, in fact, the victim of the villains."
Valieva has been the center of a doping scandal at the Beijing Winter Games after testing positive for a banned substance that can be used to increase endurance. She entered Thursday's free skate with a comfortable lead above the rest, but two falls during her program crushed hopes of ending up on the podium.
When she left the ice, her coach chastised her, demanding to know why Valieva "let it go" after her axel.
"Whether [her coaches] orchestrated, prescribed, or enabled, all of this is unclear. But what is certain: They failed to protect her," Tirico said.
"Something undeniable is the harm to the person at the center of it all," he said. "A 15-year-old, standing alone, looking terrified on the ice before her free skate."
Other prominent figure skaters, including NBC commentators and former Olympians Tara Lipinski and Johnny Weir, had criticized the decision to allow Valieva to compete despite the positive drug test. But many former figure skaters have expressed sympathy for the teen, blaming her coaches and the Russian team for the doping scandal.
Thomas Bach, the president of the International Olympic Committee, said he was "very disturbed" by how the Russian team treated Valieva after she stumbled during competition.