Valieva skates into first place after Olympic short program

By DAVE SKRETTA
AP Sports Writer

BEIJING (AP) — Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva, the heavily favored 15-year-old dynamo at the center of the latest Olympic doping scandal, overcame an early mistake to lead after the women’s short program at the Beijing Games on Tuesday night. She scored 82.16 points to take first place. Her teammate Anna Shcherbakova, the reigning world champion, was second with 80.60 points after a clean program. Japan’s Kaori Sakamoto was third with 79.89 points while another Russian skater, Alexandra Trusova was fourth with 74.60 after falling on her opening triple axel. The three Russian women are trying to become the first to sweep the women’s podium in the Olympics.