Throughout the story, it turns out that this is far from just one case of doping, but a whole system of strange practices on how to bring young talents to gold medals. And especially at what price.
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Until recently, Russian coach Eteri Tutberidze could be considered a tough but elite figure skating coach who trains girls for up to 12 hours a day. For one of the best in its field with huge successes. However, other information is coming to light in connection with the case of her young trustee.
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Tutberidze specializes in young Russian talents, which she quickly hones to perfection, winning championship titles and medals with them. As soon as the girls reach puberty, their career with a Russian coach ends. None of her trustees took part in the Olympic Games. They disappeared from figure skating, often with various injuries and health problems. Rumors of harsh methods, including dietary restrictions and overtraining, are repeated in their destinies.
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In order not to be unjust, it is possible that it is not just Tutberidze. A successful trainer can only be the exposed top of figure skating machinery, which in its peak form is not always built on fair and healthy principles.
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Unwanted puberty
It is an unwritten secret in women’s figure skating that there is a sharp career break for girls in adolescence. Why? Puberty changes the female body so that girls are no longer as well disposed for top sports. The prototype of the Olympic gold medalist is a smaller, slimmer girl, appropriately agile and perfectly flexible. With puberty, some motor traits go away.
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With increasing femininity, the figure skater may gain an artistic impression on the judges, but this is not a decisive criterion in today’s concept. The key element for winning medals and titles are jumps, jumps and jumps again. And here probably everyone understands. It’s exactly the same as with gymnasts. Young girls before puberty perform the most difficult jumping variations. Those that remain just as advanced later are more of an exception.
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As the body begins to change as a result of natural adolescence, “rescue” actions come to break, stop, or at least slow down the natural process. That is why female figure skating is so affected by eating disorders, bulimias and anorexia.
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Crying Russian figure skater Alexandra Trusova.
But let’s go back to Tutberidze. As Vox.com pointed out, her trustees are among the most affected, and moreover, the cases are repeated almost like a copier. Here are the names of the most famous: Julia Lipnická, Yevgeny Medvedev, Alina Zagitova and Anna Shcherbakov.
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Lipnice’s radiant career lasted about three years. In 2012, she became the junior world champion, two years later the European champion and the Olympic team competition winner in Sochi. She became one of the breakthrough stars of the games, known for her rotations and incredible flexibility. She was 15 years old. Then she had only average results and ended her career in 2017 when she suffered a knee injury and admitted that she was suffering from anorexia. She sought treatment at a rehabilitation center in Israel, and there were reports that Tutberidze’s team was encouraging Lipnicka to maintain her weight with special powder nutrition.
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Lipnická did not get to the games in 2018. There she was replaced by other miraculous children Tutberidze – Medvedev and Zagitova.
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Medvedev won the 2015 Junior World Championships, the 2016 and 2017 European Championships, but most of all she is a two-time world champion in 2016 and 2017 and a two-time silver medalist at the 2018 Olympic Games. She praised the new methods and the cooperation with the nutritionist. In 2020, however, due to a pandemic, she had to return to Russia to Tutberidze. It didn’t turn out well. The Russian coach criticized Medvedev for gaining weight and accused her and the Canadian coach of poor results. In the end, the athlete was allegedly hit by severe back pain and a severe covid-19.
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Alina Zagitova first won the 2017 Junior World Championships. Then she won gold at the 2018 European Championships and the 2019 World Championships. Her greatest achievement is winning a gold medal at the 2018 Olympic Games and a silver medal in the team competition. She was 15 years old and with great jumps she resembled an improved version of Lipnická. In several interviews, she indicated that her coach’s team was restricting her diet and water to reduce her weight as much as possible. In 2019, the girl complained that she was too old (she was 19 years old), and eventually retired from sports.
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Anna Ščerbakovová became a silver medalist at the 2019 Junior World Championships. In two years she was already a world champion and a two-time European silver medalist (2020 and 2022). He is now fighting for gold in Beijing. She became the first woman in the adult category to jump a double lute in one ride, and also one of the few skaters to jump a square flip. She also talked to the Russian media about the diet, for example, that she only needs two shrimps for dinner. And she also struggled with an unpleasant injury.
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Another young student of Tutberidze, Daria Usacheva, did not escape this either. The Russian junior champion suffered a very serious hip fracture in November this year.
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Now a wave of suspicion and criticism is sweeping over Tutberidze, but we must remember that in 2020 the International Skating Union awarded her the title of “best coach”. At that time, she was praised on all sides by international experts who visited her school.
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Does this mean that the world is used to the fantastic performances of world figure skating? And are international sports bodies and part of the community and the specialized media turning a blind eye to negative phenomena?
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