The coach of the Russian figure skater Kamila Valiewa reacted with surprise to the criticism of IOC boss Thomas Bach about her behavior at the Winter Olympics in Beijing. “I am still at a loss as to the appreciation of our work by the esteemed Mr. Bach,” Eteri Tutberidze commented on Instagram.
The 47-year-old supported an open letter from the Russian coach Alexander Schulin to Bach on the social network. In it, Schulin expressed “surprised” by the reaction of the IOC President. Tutberidze has coached six Olympic medalists and four Olympic champions since 2014.
Kamila Valiewa is crying, but her trainer Eteri Tutberidze has little consolation.
(Photo: David J Phillip/AP)
“She probably knows how and what to say to her students after her performances,” Schulin wrote. The President of the International Olympic Committee expressed his sympathy for Valiyeva after her bitter fourth-place Olympic final and criticized the environment with coach Tutberidze. “When I saw how she was received by those around her, with what seemed to me like an enormous chill – it sent chills down my spine to see what was happening,” Bach said.
“Instead of comforting her, instead of helping her after what happened, you could feel how freezing the atmosphere was. To experience such a distance just by looking at that person’s body language has only made it better in the imagination worse.” These statements by Bach met with incomprehension in Moscow.
After the doping whirlwind and a lead from the short program, gold favorite Waliyewa made several mistakes in her freestyle on Thursday evening and finished fourth. The 15-year-old received no consolation from coach Tutberidze, only harsh and disturbing words. Valiyeva returned to Moscow on Friday to applause.