Doping scandals and emotional meltdowns are shining an unpleasant gentle on the pressures confronted by younger Russian determine skaters.
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Kamila Valieva kicked off the Beijing Olympics with a triumphant and historic feat that demonstrated what Russia’s brutal coaching strategies might obtain. She ended the video games in lonely defeat, a troubling reminder of the perils of a program that places successful above all else.
In her brief program earlier within the week, the 15-year-old Russian determine skater grew to become the first girl to land a quadruple leap of any form on the Olympics by finishing a four-rotation salchow.
Her glory could be short-lived, as she grew to become embroiled in a doping scandal after it was revealed she examined optimistic for a banned substance in December.
Nonetheless, it was her remaining efficiency — the free skate competitors on Thursday evening — that may elevate probably the most eyebrows. The lithe 5-foot-3 phenom out of Kazan, Russia, appeared to buckle below the strain. She fell quite a few instances and dropped to fourth, regardless of getting into the evening because the chief after ending first within the brief program.
Annoyed, she swiped her hand within the air, teared up and exited the ice — and, successfully, the 2022 video games.
As she joined her coach, Eteri Tutberidze, a former skater who's notoriously exacting, she was berated. Tutberidze reportedly chided the 15-year-old, saying, “Why did you let it go? Why did you cease combating?”
The tense second, which was caught on tv and laid naked to the world, highlights the unforgiving abusive tradition that permeates Russian determine skating — a program that has been dominant during the last decade.
The scene alarmed followers, former skating greats and even Worldwide Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach, who referred to as it “chilling.”
“Slightly than giving her consolation, fairly than to attempt to assist her, you could possibly really feel this chilling ambiance, this distance,” Bach mentioned.
It additionally disturbed retired American determine skater Polina Edmunds, who competed within the 2014 Olympics in Sochi and hosts the podcast “Bleav in Determine Skating.”
“The most important difficulty is the teaching crew and their practices,” Edmunds, 23, instructed The Publish. “There’s been a historical past of accidents with [Tutberidze’s] college students and ex-students who’ve gone off to compete for different international locations. It speaks volumes about who they're and the way they prioritize medals over the well being and well-being of their skaters.”
Edmunds famous that, below the hard-charging coach, quite a few skaters have retired of their teenagers due to accidents and consuming issues. Yulia Lipnitskaya was even hospitalized for anorexia after her Olympic efficiency in 2014.
“Prior to now 12 months, 15-year-old Daria Usacheva was carried crying off the ice after fracturing her hip on the grand prix in Japan,” she added.
Edmunds mentioned Tutberidze has admitted her skaters had used meldonium, a substance that landed tennis participant Maria Sharapova a two-year suspension. Banned in 2016, it will increase blood circulate, stamina and endurance. Tutberidze admitted to skaters utilizing meldonium earlier than it was banned.
“They're on the lookout for loopholes within the system and attempting to compete with chemistry, not with pure capability,” mentioned Edmunds, including that younger skaters like Valieva want time to develop at a standard charge. Now, the teenager is erroneously the “poster baby for doping.” Actually, Edmunds mentioned, her coaches are those who must be within the highlight for drug use.
“They aren’t taking accountability they usually’re letting her take the media flak,” mentioned Edmunds of Tutberidze and her employees.
Tutberidze, who has been described as “the coach who modified determine skating,” runs the elite studio Sambo 70 in Moscow the place the perfect feminine skaters within the nation prepare. As a 21-year-old ice dancer, she was in Oklahoma Metropolis on April 19, 1995, ready to compete when Timothy McVeigh blew up the Federal Constructing throughout the road, killing 168. Her title is on the sufferer’s wall and she or he was awarded some monetary compensation compensation, which helped finance her life within the States for a couple of years.
She is infamous for her powerful coaching regimens, telling Russian TV in December that her skaters prepare a minimum of 12 hours a day, saying they will “at all times do extra, demand extra from your self.”
The punishing practices have, as Edmunds famous, led to brief shelf lives for her skaters, however Tutberidze mentioned her means justify her ends.
“If I didn’t do this, the athlete wouldn’t have the medals and the enjoyment of stepping on the rostrum,” she has mentioned.
Tutberidze had been simply as imperious and commanding when questions surfaced about Valieva’s attainable doping.
“I wish to say that we're completely certain that Kamila is harmless and pure,” Tutberidze instructed Channel One Russia, in response to TASS, a Russian information company,
On the Tutberidze squad is crew physician Filipp Shvetsky, a polarizing determine who has introduced much more scrutiny to the Russian coaches.
The towering doctor is commonly seen rink-side throughout competitions and observe, however he additionally works at a veterans’ hospital in Moscow. He was suspended from 2007 to 2010 for anti-doping violations on the nationwide rowing crew.
However in Russia, the place athletic glory can imply a lifetime of success and rewards by the federal government, this myopic chase for Olympic medals is embedded of their sports activities tradition. The strain is so nice that silver medalist Alexandra Trusova was heard screaming “I hate this sport” after studying teammate Anna Shcherbakova has crushed her. Shcherbakova, in the meantime, regarded unhappy and alone in her victory.
“They need all or nothing. That’s the way in which sports activities and determine skating goes there. If they're successful gold, they are going to get alternatives for the remainder of their lives. They are going to be arrange financially. That’s the unhappy factor. There's this lady crying. [Valieva] will at all times be within the shadows of her teammates who medaled,” mentioned Edmunds whose mom, Nina, is a Russian determine skater and coach.
Valieva did get assist from Evgenia Medvedeva, a former scholar of Tutberidze. “Penning this put up is difficult,” wrote Medvedeva, a two-time Olympic silver medalist in Russian determine skating, on her Instagram account. “Kamila, I understand how you're feeling. Chances are you'll assume that is the tip. No, it’s not the tip. I sincerely want you keep longer in sports activities. What you’re experiencing now will likely be healed by time and family members close by. Delete Instagram for every week and spend time together with your family members. Nonetheless loads of competitors to return. Nonetheless a lifetime to go.”
The Russian skaters have been elevating alarm bells inside the sport for a while, however now it’s sparking a bigger debate.
!["[Valieva] will always be in the shadows of her teammates who medaled," said Edmunds.](https://nypost.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2022/02/valieva-skating-4.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=1024)
Gracie Gold, who competed in Sochi, wrote in New York Magazine:
“The questions we actually must be asking this week are, Ought to we even need to be aggressive with the Russians if it means following their troubling blueprint for fulfillment? How did we get so far?”
However Russia doubled down on Friday, backing the profitable however controversial coach.
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov mentioned, “Everybody is aware of that in elite sports activities the coach’s toughness is vital to the scholars’ victories.”
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