Eteri Tutberidze, the coach of figure skater Kamila Valieva, commented for the first time on the story of her ward’s doping test. Previously, during the investigation, she refrained from commenting, but today she decided to devote time to a resonant and sad story.
Eteri Tutberidze stated that she did not specifically comment on the doping story, despite “to undeserved endless hate and accusations”, so as not to interfere with the investigation, hoping for a favorable outcome for Kamila Valieva. Unfortunately, this did not happen, and the investigation turned out to be one-sided and unfair to the athlete.
Russia’s Olympic gold was taken away due to Kamila Valieva’s doping test
Figure skater Kamila Valieva performed to the soundtrack from “The Boy’s Word”: video from the Russian Championship
The coach stated: “And I, probably more than anyone, wanted this story to be thoroughly investigated and for me not to have any questions left, even if it was an oversight, a mistake or a crime on someone’s part.”. But judging by the tone of the message (and the way the investigation was conducted), this did not happen. The court was unable to find out how doping got into Valieva’s blood: as a result of an error, oversight, crime on someone else’s part.
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Tutberidze separately emphasized that she is the main person who was interested in a competent investigation, and athletes under her leadership have been participating in international competitions with strict doping control since 2010 and have never had any problems, so the situation baffles her.
“We have always taught and explained to our athletes and their parents that they need to be more careful when taking even the simplest cold medications and, unfortunately, cannot trust absolutely anyone.”said Tutberidze.
What is important: the coach did not put the burden of blame on Valieva, but rather tried to support and reassure the girl as much as possible. “She is a child and on my part I will continue to support her in every possible way,” Tutberidze promised.
She also spoke about the skills of her ward: “No offense to all my previous athletes — Kamila is the most gifted athlete. And her sporting lot faced a test that is difficult to describe in words. Regarding the verdict, I have one main question: did at least someone defend Kamila at the hearings, because the verdict couldn’t have been worse.”.