BEIJING – It was heartbreaking, all of it. A young woman, just 15, having tested positive for a banned substance, enduring a shocking meltdown on the grandest stage in her sport, the women’s figure skating long program at the Olympic Games.

At the end of an excruciating week of controversy, anger and uncertainty surrounding Russia’s Kamila Valieva, one of the most unsettling and stunning moments in Olympic history awaited.

The overwhelming gold medal favorite fell apart so completely that she dropped to fourth place in the final standings. It was difficult to watch, a young woman succumbing totally to the pressure of the moment, the pressure that the adults who coach and surround her forced on her.

It was just awful: a crushing scene that millions watching around the world will not be able to shake, the manipulation and indeed the abuse of a child on display for all to see.

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Valieva, who had three different heart medications in her system when she took the drug test she failed Dec. 25, made awkward, uncharacteristic mistakes on her first four jumps, including a fall. Then she fell again moments later. Nothing went right. She was completely off her game, tentative, scared.

The audience, what there was of it, sat in shock. What was happening? How could it be happening? This young woman, a once in a lifetime talent, had taken the skating world by storm over the past five months. She was untouchable. And then this, a disaster of a performance in the four-minute long program that was to serve as her coronation as one of the most memorable skaters of all time?

She lingered on the ice when it was over. She threw her hand into the air in despair. She doubled over. What was she thinking? How will she ever recover from this? How can she be OK? And, what in the world is going on in her sport?

Never lost in this terrible doping saga was the fact that this was a 15-year-old in the worldwide spotlight. And then that young woman – that girl – came apart in front of our eyes. She never should have been allowed to skate; that’s been said thousands of times the past week. Now we can be sure of it: because of the positive drug test, certainly, and because of what the pressure has done to her.

Eternal shame should accompany Valieva’s coach, Eteri Tutberidze, and her team and the Russian Olympic Committee for exploiting a young woman in this manner.

No medal ceremony was planned for the evening because it was considered a certainty Valieva would win a medal, likely gold. The International Olympic Committee announced Monday that it would not allow medals to be given out if Valieva was among the winners. A thorough investigation of her positive drug test is coming, which could result in her being stripped of the gold medal Russia won in the team competition in which she skated.

But it turns out there was a medal ceremony after all. Valieva’s training mate Anna Shcherbakova, the 2021 world champion, deservedly won the gold medal with an athletic, majestic skate of her own, followed by another skater from the Russian stable, Alexandra Trusova, who attempted a record five quadruple jumps in her long program. But as good as they are, who knows if it's all being done legally? Tutberidze, who coaches all three of the Russians, is already under investigation for her role in Valieva’s positive drug test.

As the shock of Valieva's performance washed over the Olympic world, U.S. Anti-Doping Agency CEO Travis Tygart said what many felt.

“On the one hand, my heart breaks for her because of the despicable acts of the adults in her life and the catastrophic failures of the Russian and IOC-run systems that permanently cast a dark cloud over her performances,” Tygart texted right after the event. “It’s certain these events weighed heavily on her and hopefully she will get the support she needs going forward.

"On the other hand, all of us who value clean sport are sick to our stomachs because these failures have tragically robbed clean athletes of their incredible sacrifice and Olympic dreams.”

It was an extraordinary and shocking night, one that will not, cannot and should not be forgotten.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Christine Brennan: Kamila Valieva was failed by adults and it showed