5. Kamila Valieva
Valieva was a strong gold medal favorite heading into the women’s free skate at the Beijing Winter Olympics in February 2022. Then a drug test scandal plagued her seemingly unstoppable run to the top of the figure skating world. However, she fell well short of expectations when she finished fourth overall. It was disappointing for the 15-year-old because she failed in front of the world.
Then, her coaches savagely rebuked her live on television. This stunned viewers because they spoke to the vulnerable young woman horribly. The distraught athlete had no response to their criticism and verbal abuse. It was harrowing to witness (via Yahoo! Sports). She failed a drug test at the end of 2021 in a scene that only furthered the dark cloud hanging over the entire Russian Olympic team. But her team and coaches seemingly never had her back and she became a used and abused example of how poorly Russian athletes were treated before they were made into scapegoats.