Figure skating coach Eteri Tutberidze reacted to criticism of the head of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Thomas Bach. Her words are available in the comments to Alexander Zhulin’s Instagram post.
Zhulin published an open letter to Bach. He noted that he was very surprised by the reaction of the head of the IOC to the behavior of Tutberidze after the free program of her student Kamilla Valieva. Zhulin recalled that the coach has trained six Olympic medalists and four Olympic champions since 2014, and she knows how and what to say to her wards after performances. “You, please, analyze your position in relation to a woman and a young girl, starting from February 8 this year. From the position of a man, you behaved, in my opinion, cruelly and incorrectly, ”he turned to Bach.
“I am still at a loss from the assessment of our work by the esteemed Mr. Bach,” Tutberidze wrote in the comments. She also thanked Zhulin for the words of support.
On February 18, Bach made a number of statements regarding the situation around 15-year-old Valieva. In particular, he condemned Tutberidze for his cold reaction to the rental of an athlete during a personal tournament at the Olympics.
Valieva failed to keep the lead after the short program and took fourth place in the individual figure skater tournament at the Beijing Games. The figure skater was admitted to the competition after a doping scandal, a microdose of a banned substance was found in her sample. The Court of Arbitration for Sport sided with the Russian woman and allowed her to participate in the Games, which caused a negative reaction from the World Anti-Doping Agency and the IOC.
Source: Lenta
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