Winter Olympics: Kamila Valieva treatment by entourage 'chilling' - IOC

[Jilly_in_VA]

It was "chilling" to see the "cold" way distraught Kamila Valieva was treated by her Russian coach after falls in her figure skating routine at Beijing 2022, says International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach.

Valieva, weighed down by a doping scandal and questions over the wisdom of allowing her to compete, came fourth on Thursday after several mistakes.

There was no hug and no comfort for the 15-year-old from coach Eteri Tutberidze when she immediately came off the ice, instead she was asked "why did you stop fighting?"

Valieva was favourite to win the women's event, having set several world records in the short time since she made her senior debut in October. She had led after Tuesday's short programme but the series of falls and messy landings on Thursday ruled her out of a podium finish.

"When I saw how she was received by her closest entourage with what appeared to be a tremendous coldness, it was chilling to see this, rather than giving her comfort, rather than to try to help her," said Bach.

Tutberidze, whose training methods were already under the spotlight, did put her arm around the young Russian while she waited for her score. But moments before that had demanded to know: "Why did you let it go? Explain it to me, why?"

Bach said he was "very, very disturbed" by what he had seen when watching the competition on television.

"All of this does not give me much confidence in this closest entourage of Kamila, neither with regard to what happened in the past, nor as far as it concerns the future," he added.

"How to deal, how to address, how to treat a minor athlete at the age of 15 under such an obvious mental stress."

https://www.bbc.com/sport/winter-olympics/60417450
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Comment below, too long for up here. Please read the ENTIRE artlcle (I know, long) before commenting.

[Thomas Hurt]

1. entourage or state handlers?

[Arkansas Granny]

2. I honestly feel sorry for this girl. Did she deliberately use the banned substance or was it

given to her by the PTB? I don't know if we'll ever know the answer, but, given Russia's history, she may have been given the substance without her knowledge. Why she was allowed to compete at all after a dirty drug screen is beyond my comprehension. It threw her into the middle of a scandal that I'm sure she was not prepared for.

At any rate, she has been the focus of international attention and under an extreme amount of pressure over the last few weeks. I can't imagine dealing with that situation as an adult, much less a 15 year old child.

[Jilly_in_VA]

4. You ought to know, surely

that it was given to her. It's Russia.

[Jilly_in_VA]

3. I finally got to watch the whole thing last night

It made me cry! If I were this child's parent(s) I would be seriously thinking of hiring someone to take this coach out...at least I'd be thinking that for a hot minute. Than I'd be planning on how fast to come get my kid and bring her home.

It was absolutely heartbreaking to watch all three Russian girls skate, and how they reacted in the aftermath. The coach yelling at Valieva was the worst...no, you couldn't see her mouth, but you could see her eyes above the mask, and they were not kind. She was still talking ugly to her as they sat in "kiss and cry". The child was at least hugged by someone (male, blond) in the entourage. He seemed kind and comforting, anyway. Trusova stood by herself, apparently unaware of the cameras, muttering and spitting fire as only a redhead can. She was obviously angry and upset. She did have a beautiful, albeit somewhat mechanical and un-artistic, program and whether she thought she should have won or was mad at Tutberidze for how she was treating Valieva or what, I don't know--read the story and draw your own conclusions. And poor little Schcherbakova, the gold medalist, sat all by herself, ignored and looking lost. I almost felt sorrier for her than for any of them. She obviously didn't know what she should be doing. I really wanted to reach through the screen and hug her. I have a granddaughter her age and that's what I would do if it were her.

In view of the articles I've read recently on Tutberidze's coaching methods, I also took a really close look at these girls and compared them with the other girls among the 13 finalists. All the finalists are small, but in general, most of them are relatively fairly sturdy through the butt and thighs, although Alysa Liu is pretty ethereal without looking skinny. The Japanese and Korean girls are relatively muscular. But all three of the Russian girls are so painfully thin you can almost see through them. Their arms and legs are like sticks, and I'm willing to bet that what is on their chests is padding. Take a look for yourselves. Stream this on your computer. This is child abuse. How they manage these jumps is beyond me; how they have enough muscle mass to do it is puzzling. No wonder Tutberidze's camp is rife with injury. No wonder her skaters "retire" at 17 or 18. No wonder they have eating disorders and lifelong injuries. She should be banned from the sport and tried for child abuse and trafficking of minors. But it's Russia.....

[Jilly_in_VA]

5. Another view and explanation

https://www.vox.com/22939271/kamila-valieva-figure-skating-results-olympics-2022

[DinahMoeHum]

6. While the IOC may have been hamstrung by CAS's decision. . .

. . .to allow Valieva to compete, they do the authority to revoke medals for on PED use.

IIRC, only the IOC has that authority.

If Thomas Bach wants to restore some respectability back to the IOC, he can start by DQing the ROC for the team event and stripping them of that medal.

[Rocknation]

7. She fell down MORE than once, but finished FOURTH?

How many times did the skaters who finished BEHIND Valieva fall down?


Rocknation

[Jilly_in_VA]

8. One of the Japanese skaters

fell down once, but her program didn't have the degree of difficulty Valieva's did, plus she missed an element or two, besides which she came in behind in the standings---all of which figures into the scoring.