Olympic Figure Skating Results 2022: Kamila Valieva Tops Women's Short Program

Kamila Valieva finished first in the women's figure skating short program at the 2022 Winter Olympics on Tuesday to qualify for Thursday's free skate and a chance at the gold medal.

Vaileva was cleared to compete by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which struck down a provisional suspension Monday that stemmed from a positive drug test by the 15-year-old Russian in December.

All three Team USA athletes in the women's individual competition—Mariah Bell, Karen Chen and Alysa Liu—also advanced to the free skate.

Here's a look at the top finishers from Tuesday's short program:

1. Kamila Valieva (ROC): 82.16

2. Anna Shcherbakova (ROC): 80.20

3. Kaori Sakamoto (JPN): 79.84

4. Alexandra Trusova (ROC): 74.60

5. Wakaba Higuchi (JPN): 73.51

6. Young You (KOR): 70.34

7. Loena Hendrickx (BEL): 70.09

8. Alysa Liu (USA): 69.50

9. Yelim Kim (KOR): 67.78

10. Anastasiia Gubanova (GEO): 65.40

The Valieva situation has hovered over the event in recent days. The CAS provided several reasons for eliminating the ban, including her status as a "protected person," the potential a ban could "cause her irreparable harm in these circumstances" and the "untimely notification" of the suspension amid the Beijing Games.

One of her lawyers argued the positive drug test for trimetazidine, a heart medication, was the result of a contaminated cup after she shared a drinking glass with her grandfather, per Bernie Wilson of the Associated Press.

The IOC subsequently announced no medal ceremony would be held for the women's individual competition if Valieva is among those who reach the podium until her case is settled. That outcome is highly probable.

She was emotional after completing her performance Tuesday, which was far less efficient than her typical short program despite the high score.

Valieva also opted against answering questions from the media after the skate, per Chris Bumbaca of USA Today.

Her biggest competition comes from her two countrywomen, Anna Shcherbakova and Alexandra Trusova, and the Japanese tandem of Kaori Sakamoto and Wakaba Higuchi.

Liu was the top performer among the Americans in the short program and provided a clean, effective skate that merely lacked the number of high-end elements necessary to keep pace atop the standings.

A gold medal is likely out of reach for all of Team USA's skaters—Bell is 11th and Chen is 13th—but they still own an outside shot at a podium finish depending on their performance in the second half of the event and what ultimately happens to Valieva's results.

Looking ahead, the women's free skate is scheduled for Thursday at 6 p.m. local time in Beijing (5 a.m. ET in the U.S.).