IOC president Thomas Bach says he was disturbed by the response from Kamila Valieva’s coaching team after the Russian teen failed to secure a medal in the figure skating final.
After her Olympic campaign was marred by a protracted doping scandal, the crestfallen 15-year-old was blasted by her coach following her final event.
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Cameras caught notoriously strict coach Eteri Tutberidze telling Valieva “Why did you let it go? Why did you stop fighting?” after she crashed out of medal contention.
“I was very disturbed yesterday when I watched the competition on TV,” Bach said of Tutberidze’s treatment of Valieva.
“This pressure is beyond my imagination, in particular for a 15-year-old girl, to see her struggling on the ice, you could feel in her body language this is an immense mental stress and maybe she would prefer to leave the ice.
“When I saw her received by her entourage with tremendous coolness it was chilling to see this, rather than giving her comfort, trying to help her.”
Valieva is not the only athlete coached by Tutberidze in Beijing, with fellow Russian Alexandra Trusova also under his guidance. Trusova exploded after missing out on a gold medal in the final.
Bach said he had previously been concerned about the treatment dished out to Trusova, a 17-year-old.
“It was some dismissive gestures I saw there. When I saw and read how Alexandra Trusova was being treated, I am afraid that this impression that I had last night was not the wrong one,” he said.
“This does not give me confidence in her entourage. I can only wish for her that she has the support of her friends and family. It is an extremely difficult situation. We can only hope it is addressed in the right way.”
The Valieva doping saga has also had a profound impact on skaters from other countries, namely the United States and Japan, who have been left fuming that the Russian was allowed to compete in a team event after testing positive.
Team ROC took out the gold in the team event as Valieva competed in two legs, top scoring in both the women’s short program and the women’s free skate, allowing her country to edge out the USA and Japan.
Bach acknowledged the impact of the Valieva doping saga on these countries, with all three medal-winning teams denied of a ceremony due to the scandal.
“Other skaters were affected from US and Japan, we had to take a very difficult decision,” he said.
“We have offered a meeting with the US and Japanese skaters because we wanted to learn their feelings directly.”
After reports emerged suggesting that members of the US team had been offered Olympic torches in lieu of medals, Bach said that was not true.
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