PARIS – Even after more than a year, figure skating coach Eteri Tutberidze is bothered by how the president of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach, criticized her behavior towards her client Kamila Valievova at last year’s Winter Games in Beijing.
After the publication of a positive doping test, she could enter the women’s competition, but she messed up the free ride. Tutberidze did not support her when she left the ice, which angered IOC President Bach. The Russian coach considers his criticism unjustified and would like an apology. She stated this in an interview with the French daily L’Equipe.
When the fifteen-year-old Valievová fell to fourth place in the free skate, her coach could be heard saying over the noise microphones: “Why did you let it go? Why did you stop fighting?”. Bach paused and claimed that he would have the coach’s cold behavior investigated.
Valievova herself stood up for her coaches after the Olympics and continues to train with this group, even though she can only compete on the domestic stage due to sanctions for the Russian occupation of Ukraine.
The problem wasn’t that she failed
Tutberidze defends her behavior from Beijing. “You can’t embrace someone who isn’t worth it, and the problem wasn’t that she failed. On the other hand, you have no right to give up. I just asked her why she stopped competing after the second element. In short, she refused to fight until the end.” said Tutberidze, under whose guidance the Olympic champion Anna Shcherbakov was also preparing.
She and Valievova, who was the clear favorite for gold in the women’s competition before the Olympics, were said to have sat in the dressing room for a long time and discussed the situation. “The accusation from Thomas Bach is unfair, I expect an apology from him,” declared Tutberidze.
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Zdroj: SITA/AP/Natacha Pisarenko
The team around the young Russian figure skater came into the spotlight after Valieva’s positive test at the Russian championships in December came to light at the Olympics.
Because of this, no medals have been awarded in the team competition, where Vaiieva helped the Russian team win gold. After that, she could conditionally start in individual races. Only thanks to her fourth place did the medalists receive their precious metals, otherwise they would also have to wait for the ceremony.
My skates were always clean
Tutberidze defends her client. “I really don’t know what happened. My skaters have always been clean. We are trying to understand it with the whole team, we were looking at the camera footage from the Russian championships, where there was that check. And we are wondering why there was such a long time between the check and the announcement result,” she said.
The Russian disciplinary commission decided that Valiyeva had not committed anything wrong and did not punish her in any way. Against this, the World Anti-Doping Agency WADA, the international federation ISU and the Russian agency appealed to the CAS sports arbitration in Lausanne.
WADA demands a four-year ban for the soon-to-be seventeen-year-old figure skater. Tutberidze is clear about what this would mean for Valiev. “It would be the end of her career,” she declared.
- Author: © List
- Source: CTK
