Russian Skating Coach Eteri Tutberidze Tag as “Empress and Ice Queen” Dissapointed on Valieva’s Performance.

I don’t know how you can be so cold to your own students. I was horrified. …… I can’t really trust her.”

At a press conference on February 18, International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach spoke bitterly. The subject of the criticism was Eteri Tutoberidze, 47, who coaches female figure skaters for the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC).

It was February 17, the last day of the women’s singles competition. Kamila Waliyeva (15), the favorite to win the competition, who has been suspected of doping, made a series of mistakes and finished in fourth place. In the aftermath of her performance, Toubelise’s unforgiving words to a disappointed Wallieva have caused controversy around the world.

You’ve given up the fight. Why did you give up?　Explain it to me.

During the “kiss and cry” session, as they waited for the scores to be announced, Toubelise continued to throw harsh words at Waliwa, who was sitting next to him. As if she couldn’t take it anymore, she covered her face with her hands and broke down in tears.

The training ground is a ‘factory’ and the players are ‘materials

Tara Lipinski, a commentator for the US media outlet NBC and a gold medalist at the Nagano Olympics in 1998, said, “(Waliwa) is only 15 years old. I’m furious with the adults around her who are pushing her around for their own reasons.

Hanaori Sakamoto, who won the bronze medal, also commented on Walieva’s performance and the tears that followed. To be honest, it was hard for me to watch. I wondered what was wrong with her.

The Russians were quick to respond to such criticism.

Mr. Tutovelise expressed on his SNS that he was at a loss for words about Mr. Bach’s evaluation. Peskov, whose wife is a former gold medalist in figure skating (Tatiana Navka), responded at a press conference, saying, “I’m not sure what to say.

I don’t agree at all with the criticism of Mr. Toubelise. I don’t agree with it at all. It is absolutely necessary for victory.

Tutoberidze is an absolute master, known as the “Empress” or “Queen of the Ice” in Russia. His students include Alina Zagitova, the gold medalist at the 2006 PyeongChang Olympics, and Evgenia Medvedeva, the silver medalist. His strict coaching has been controversial for some time.

The training ground is called a ‘factory’ and the athletes are called ‘materials,’ and even their personal lives are thoroughly managed. We teach them how to put on makeup, how to walk, how to talk. The players are required to train 12 hours a day, and if they don’t perform the way he wants them to, he scolds them loudly, saying, ‘Pack your bags and go home! If they don’t perform the way he wants them to, he yells at them to pack up and go home. He makes them adjust their weight in 100-gram increments.

When Medvedeva made a mistake on a jump during practice, he would say, ‘Do you like to make mistakes?　Then I’ll help you fall down,’ he reprimanded her. After the PyeongChang Olympics, Zagitova temporarily withdrew from the competition, saying she was ‘burned out.

From now on, the focus will be on whether or not Mr. Tutoberise was involved in the doping scandal of Walieva, who tested positive. In the aforementioned press conference, President Bach said, “Doping is almost always a problem.

In most cases, doping involves other people. Doping is almost always done by those around the athlete, and rarely by the athlete alone.

The Russian newspaper Moskovsky Komsomolets reported a shocking revelation from Mr. Tutoberidze: In an interview with the newspaper in 2007, he testified about the WADA-banned drug meldonium.

It was a substitute for vitamins. I knew the day would come when I would not be able to use meldonium. Athletes need vitamins to recover from fatigue. We need to find a new drug.

Trimetazidine, which is suspected to have been used by Waliwa, is said to have similar effects to Meldonium, such as improving endurance. The Beijing Winter Olympics concluded on February 20, but the suspicion of drug use in Russia is unlikely to be resolved for some time.