A 17-year-old figure skater has vowed to "never skate again" after a disappointing outcome at the Winter Olympics on Thursday, Sky News reports.
The silver medallist, Alexandra Trusova, sobbed before the podium ceremony following the women's single event at the Beijing Olympics.
The teenager from Russia, who had attempted five quadruple jumps in a high-octane routine at the Capital Indoor Stadium, missed out on the gold medal by 4.22 points as the judges preferred the free skate of fellow Russian, Anna Shcherbakova.
Seventeen-year-old Shcherbakova only landed two quads, and Trusova's athletic performance to Cruella and the Stooges's 'I Wanna Be Your Dog' helped her score additional points in the free skate. However, it did not compensate for her disappointing performance in the short program on Tuesday.
“Everyone has a gold medal, everyone, but not me. I hate skating. I hate it. I hate this sport. I will never skate again. Never,” Trusova said as she, for a moment, disappeared from sight of her coach, Eteri Tutberidze, as well as Shcherbakova and Valieva.
“It’s impossible. That’s now how it should be.”
Trusova, the world championships' bronze medallist, opened up further about her disappointment in the post-event news conference, where she was also on the brink of tears.
“I haven’t been winning major events for three years. I always try to reach a goal, I always add more quads,” the youngster said.
“And when I get to that, I will win. This didn’t happen, that’s why I was upset.”
When she was asked why she had been crying, Trusova said: “Just because. I wanted to cry, so I cried. I’ve been three weeks alone without my mom, my dogs. So I cry.”
This comes after fellow Russian figure skater, 15-year-old Valieva, was cleared to continue competing at the Beijing Winter Olympics due to "exceptional circumstances", despite testing positive for a banned substance. She missed out on an individual medal after multiple falls during her performance on Thursday.
Earlier this week, Valieva's legal team claimed her positive doping test was caused by a mix-up with her grandfather's heart medication.