Feb 1 (Reuters) – Kamila Valieva’s comeback got off to an inauspicious start as the former Olympic prodigy finished sixth in the semi-finals of the Russian Show Jumping Championships on Sunday in her first competition since serving a four-year ban for doping.

The 19-year-old bobbled the landing of her initial quad toe loop, fell on the second and then finished with a messy double jump and triple Salchow combination.

Unlike traditional skating events, skaters were given 90 seconds each to complete a series of jumps with only generic background music. The top three advanced to the final.

Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva competes at the Russian Skate Jumping Championships at Moscow's Navka Stadium.
Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva competes at the Russian Skate Jumping Championships at Moscow’s Navka Stadium.

ALEXANDER NEMENOV via Getty Images

Nearly four years after her involvement in a doping scandal that marred the 2022 Olympics, Valieva returned to the spotlight Saturday in a quarterfinal that included a clean quad loop, a jump that only a small number of female skaters have achieved.

Despite his mistake-filled skate on Sunday, fans waved signs with his name and then threw dozens of stuffed toys onto the ice.

Valieva remains ineligible for the Milan Cortina Olympics, which begin on Friday. Three-time Russian national champion Adeliia Petrosian will compete as an individual neutral athlete and is considered among the contenders for the women’s title.

Valieva was 15 when she became the center of a global controversy at the 2022 Olympics after a sample taken two months earlier tested positive for the banned substance trimetazidine.

The failed test arose after she helped Russia win team gold, a result for which she was later disqualified, elevating the United States to the top of the podium.

Under intense scrutiny, she finished fourth in the women’s event, receiving harsh criticism from her coach Eteri Tutberidze.

Since then, the minimum age for skaters at the Olympics has been raised to 17 years old.