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Kamila Valieva's heartbreaking final outing strikes emotional chord through sports world

It turns out there's only so much pressure a 15-year-old can endure on the world stage.

Amid a flurry of controversy, Kamila Valieva left the Beijing Games ice for the last time in tears, failing to medal in the women's free skate event on Thursday. Valieva struggled through her final performance in these Games, falling twice as she tried to execute her highly technical four-minute routine.

She finished outside of a podium spot in fourth place as the Russian Olympic Committee took gold and silver with Anna Shcherbakova and Alexandra Trusova, while Japan's Sakamoto Kaori earned bronze.