The Soviet Olympic champion was banned from coaching in Canada for life. Why was the famous gymnast punished?

Two-time Olympic champion Elvira Saadi has been banned from coaching in Canada for life. Lawyer Emir Crown announced this on social networks. X.

Crown published a fragment of the decision of the Canadian Gymnastics Federation (Gymnastics Canada). It states that 71-year-old Saadi is deprived of membership in the organization and any of its regional branches for ten years. The suspension includes a ban on any activities related to the federation, including coaching, refereeing, program production, volunteering and administrative activities.

It is noted that after the end of the suspension, Saadi will be able to begin training coaches. At the same time, she will not be allowed to have direct contact with athletes, as well as engage in coaching, refereeing and administrative activities.

In 2020, parents of gymnasts began to complain about Saadi

Saadi was suspended from coaching in 2020 pending an investigation. Then she began to receive complaints from parents of gymnasts.

Saadi began coaching in Canada in 1991

A native of Tashkent began coaching at the Moscow club Dynamo in 1976. In 1991, she moved to Canada, where she continued to train athletes. In the Cambridge Kips gym, the Soviet champion trained with Canadian Olympians Yvonne Tousek and Crystal Gilmore.

In 2011, Saadi opened her own club, Dynamo Gymnastics, in Cambridge. There, the coach worked with Victoria Moores and Madeline Gardiner, who were part of the Canadian team at the 2012 Olympic Games.

Saadi twice won the Olympic Games as a member of the USSR national team.

Saadi won gold in the team all-around at the 1972 and 1976 Olympic Games as a member of the USSR national team. In 1974, she became the world champion in the team and also won bronze in the floor exercise.

At the USSR championships, Saadi won ten medals of various denominations. In 1972, she became the best on beam and floor exercise. A year later, the gymnast became the absolute champion of the country, and also won gold on the balance beam and silver in floor exercises. She later received three more silvers and a bronze on these apparatuses and added bronze on uneven bars.