'At a loss': Russian coach responds to 'chilling' Winter Olympics act
Kamila Valieva's coach has responded to International Olympics Committee president Thomas Bach's comments regarding the 'chilling' scenes after the teen skater left the ice in tears at the Winter Olympics.
Valieva's Winter Olympics has been overshadowed after the teenager failed a doping test before her competition, but was allowed to compete in extraordinary circumstances.
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The drama surrounding the teenager and her coaches came under heavy scrutiny with other athletes and former champions declaring she shouldn't be able to compete.
Valieva then was reduced to tears after falling several times in the finale of a women's figure skating event she was favoured to win gold in.
The scenes that followed also caused a stir.
Valieva proceeded to be berated by Russian coach Eteri Tutberidze after the unusual stumbles that saw her end up finishing outside the medals in fourth place.
Tutberidze, who is set to come under investigation over the positive drug test Valieva returned on December 25, was caught on camera angrily confronting the clearly devastated 15-year-old.
IOC president Thomas Bach described the incident as 'chilling'.
“I was very disturbed when I watched it on TV,” Bach said.
“When I saw how she was received by the closest entourage with such a tremendous coolness, it was chilling to see this.”
Russian coach responds to Kamila Valieva incident
Tutberidze took to Instagram on Saturday and thanked those who had sent messages of support.
She also took aim at Bach for his comments.
"I am very grateful for the words of support," she wrote on an Instagram post.
"I am still at a loss from the assessment of our work by the esteemed Mr Bach."
Valieva's were far from the only tears on the ice last week, with fellow Russian Alexandra Trusova devastated after compatriot Anna Shcherbakova pipped her to gold.
A distraught Trusova clearly thought she had been robbed of gold and let her emotions pour out in a stunning outburst after the final points were announced.
“Everyone has a gold medal, everyone, but not me,” Trusova said, according to Reuters.
“I hate skating. I hate it. I hate this sport. I will never skate again. Never. It’s impossible. That’s not how it should be.”
Bach said seeing the distraught skater break down on the ice in front of a worldwide TV audience confirmed his fears about how Russia's young stars had been treated.
“I was pondering about whether you can be really so cold but when I saw and read today how Alexandra Trusova was being treated, I am afraid that this impression I had last night was not the wrong one.
“All of this does not give me much confidence in this close entourage of Kamila.”
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