I wonder whether Valieva was told that she had to throw the competition so the other two Russians would get to have a medal ceremony. I don't think that the Russians are the international threat that all the NatSec "experts" on CNN (who are paid well to be on the boards of big defense contractors) claim. But Russia is a pretty crooked place. 21 journalists have been murdered in Russia since Putin came to power. It is a well established practice in Russia that you can curry favor with the government or an oligarch by offering to "take care of" a problem in exchange for a government contract or high ranking job, etc. I wouldn't be surprised if someone got to Valieva's family and made it clear that bad things would happen if she got a medal. And I just can't believe that Valieva would turn in such a poor performance. The Russian skaters are basically robots and don't miss.
What is clear is that the minimum age for figure skating needs to be at least 17 if not 18. The Russian program is shredding little girls, leaving most with very serious injuries after only a few years of competitive skating. And there needs to be an international code of conduct for Olympic level coaches. Coaches should be held accountable for emotional abuse and physical abuse, especially when the athletes are minors.