Valieva tumbles out of the medals in Olympic figure skating

By BERNIE WILSON
AP Sports Writer

BEIJING (AP) — Bing Dwen Dwen stuffed pandas are already in the hands of the top three finishers in the women’s figure skating competition at the Beijing Olympics. The medals are coming Friday. Heavily favored Russian teen Kamila Valieva fell twice and had two other big mistakes in her free skate to drop to fourth place. That allowed the International Olympic Committee to avoid what could have been one of the most awkward moments in the history of the Games. Valieva was permitted to skate despite failing a doping test before the Olympics. She was the leader after the short program but faltered badly in the free skate. Russian teammate Anna Shcherbakova won the gold medal.