Olympic Games 2022 / Doping: the IOC president attacks the entourage of Kamila Valieva
IOC President Thomas Bach, during a press conference at the Beijing Olympics, February 18, 2022 Gabriel BOUYS AFP
Text by: AFP
5 mins
Beijing (AFP) – "Icy", "disdainful": the day after the implosion of Kamila Valieva on the Olympic ice, the president of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Thomas Bach did not mince his words on Friday February 18 to criticize the attitude of those around him, in particular the coldness of his coach with an already controversial reputation.
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Thomas Bach was not in the stands of the Beijing Omnisports Palace to attend the free program of the individual figure skating event on Thursday evening, but he nevertheless said he was "
very disturbed
" by the performance of Kamila Valieva who followed on television.
“
Seeing her break down on the ice, cry and try to finish her program was difficult.
In each movement, in his body language, we saw the immense stress
, ”said Thomas Bach during his traditional press conference at the end of the Olympics.
Russian skater Kamila Valieva, in tears at the end of her free program, on February 17, 2022 at the Beijing Olympics Anne-Christine POUJOULAT AFP
The boss of the body, himself an Olympic fencing champion, refers to the two falls, clumsiness and other errors of the Russian prodigy who ended up cracking during the most important free program of his career after spending more of a week at the heart of a storm born of a positive doping control.
Favorite for the title and in the lead after the short program, Valieva ended up with only 141.93 points and a total score of 224.09 points, synonymous with fourth place, far from her compatriot and training partner Anna Shcherbakova, crowned Olympic champion at 17.
Russian Kamila Valieva during her free figure skating program on February 17 at the Beijing Olympics Anne-Christine POUJOULAT AFP
WADA investigation
But more than the mental implosion of the skater, what took the IOC boss by surprise was what happened when she left the ice when she was greeted by reproaches from Eteri Tutberidze.
"
Why did you give up?
Why did you stop fighting
?
Explain to me … You dropped …
“, struck the coach at the head of a real factory of champions in Moscow.
For the boss of the IOC, this scene was "
icy, instead of trying to help and comfort her".
“
We felt the distance and by interpreting his body language
[de son coache, ndlr]
it was dismissive.
I wondered how one could really be so cold
, ”lamented Thomas Bach.
Russian skater Kamila Valieva after her free program at the Beijing Olympics, February 17, 2022 Manan VATSYAYANA AFP
“
It doesn't inspire much confidence in my surroundings, regardless of what may have happened, or will happen in the future, how (is it possible to) treat a 15-year-old underage athlete like that
?
“, he concluded.
This is not the first time that Valieva's entourage has been singled out: the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) announced that it was investigating "
support staff
", without further details, after the champion Europe 2022 was tested positive at the end of December for trimetazidine, used to treat angina pectoris and banned by WADA since 2014, because it promotes blood circulation.
Russian Sports Minister Oleg Matytsin regretted Thomas Bach's comments, saying he should have shown "
more reserve
".
“
To judge the behavior of a trainer and his relationship with an athlete on TV is questionable to say the least
.
»
"Rarely alone"
The Valieva affair broke out in the middle of the 2022 Olympics, when her positive control was notified to the skater just after her victory in the team event with Russia.
24 hours before the start of the individual event, the Court of Arbitration for Sport, urgently seized by the IOC and WADA, validated the decision of Russian anti-doping to lift Valieva's suspension on the pretext that depriving her of the Olympics 2022 would cause him "
'irreparable' damage"
.
"
The question of the entourage is extremely important, because (Valieva) is a minor and we need to be told how she can have products in her body that clearly should not be there ,
"
Bach said. .
“
According to my experience of doping cases that I have had to manage, when there is doping, it is very rarely done alone
,” he insisted.
This case also raises the question of the age of competitors, who are often minors in figure skating: should a minimum age be set?
“
We are going to start discussions on this question, we have to think about it calmly with WADA on one side and the international federations to find out if there is a need for regulation.
»
Russian Kamila Valieva, during her short program of the team event at the Beijing Olympics, February 6, 2022 WANG Zhao AFP / Archives
The International Skating Federation told AFP that it would propose to raise the minimum age to compete in seniors, currently 15 years old to raise it to 17, at its next congress scheduled for June 6 to 10.
But for the moment, the most pressing question in the eyes of Thomas Bach concerns Kamila Valieva and her entourage.
"
All the light will be shed and we will not hesitate to take all the necessary measures, even the strongest
," he warned.
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