Olympic athletes dream of winning a gold medal, standing on the top step of the platform and hearing their national anthem played.

That’s not happening for participants in the team figure skating event in the Beijing Olympics. The Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) team took the gold, and the U.S. skaters the silver, but no medal ceremony will be held while Olympic doping officials check for possible performance-enhancing drug violations by Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva, age 15.

Valieva continues to compete until the investigation is completed. The outcome of her investigation will decide on who gets medals in these competitions.

It is the Olympic dream of many a viewer and fan of the Olympics to see one, just one, Olympic Games take place without these kinds of shenanigans and controversies.

When they are done right, the Olympics represent the ideal of international competition, athletes from around the world forgoing political differences to compete and celebrate the pure thrill of amateur sports.

But once again, the Olympic ideal is being dashed by the desire for one country to prove its superiority to another. The Russian government has actually been banned for systemic doping. The ROC isn’t doing much better.