International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach has called on the investigation into Russian figure skater Kamila Valiyeva's so-called "entourage" to uncover the "whole truth".

He hopes those responsible for the athlete's positive doping test will be held accountable in the "strongest manner possible".

Christopher Becker

sports editor.

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Both the World Anti-Doping Agency WADA and the Russian Anti-Doping Agency have launched investigations.

On the WADA side, the investigative department is taking care of the case, Bach said at his closing press conference for the Winter Olympics in Beijing on Friday.

Bach said he saw Valiyeva's freestyle program on television on Thursday evening.

"I was very, very upset.

That pressure was beyond my imagination, especially for a 15-year-old." You could see by Valiyeva's body language that she might have left the ice and wanted to "put this story behind."

"But that's not all," Bach said.

"When I saw her being greeted afterwards by her closest companions with what appeared to be immense chills.

It chilled me to see that.

Instead of comforting her, helping her, you could feel the chilly atmosphere, the distance.

And when you interpreted the body language, it got even worse.

They were contemptuous gestures.”

Eteri Tutberidze, Kamila Valiewa's trainer, reproached her athlete after the freestyle: "Why did you let everything out of your hands like that?

Why did you stop fighting?

Explain that to me!

After the Axel you gave it out of your hands.”

Bach went on to say that he had read what Alexandra Trusova, the runner-up, had to say about her treatment.

So he believes he didn't get the wrong impression.

"I don't have a lot of faith in Kamila's companions, neither in terms of the past nor in terms of how to deal with a 15-year-old." He hopes that she does not suffer any trauma from it.

Bach also explained how the meeting with the American figure skaters went, who still have to wait for a legal conclusion of the Valiyeva case before receiving their medals.

The torches offered to them are not a substitute for medals, but a gesture that every athlete can accept or reject.

The torches were left to the office of the American Olympic Committee.

The IOC Executive Committee will continue to address the issue of minors in Olympic sport, both in relation to the World Anti-Doping Agency's Anti-Doping Code and whether there is a minimum age limit in sports should.

That is a question for the international associations.

A number of figure skaters had called for the introduction of a minimum age in Beijing, mostly the age of 18 was mentioned.

With a view to sanctioning the personnel accompanying athletes, Bach said that the possibilities of the sports associations are very limited.

He wants to convince anti-doping organizations to ask their governments for more support and measures against doctors, for example.

He also hopes that athletes will be key witnesses.

At the start of the almost 75-minute press conference, Bach held an almost half-hour introductory statement.

The questions that followed dealt almost exclusively with his attitude towards dealing with Kamila Valiyeva.

Asked if the political statements made by Yan Jiarong, spokeswoman for China's organizing committee BOCOG on Thursday, had been addressed by the IOC, Bach said it had.

The IOC and BOCOG reaffirmed their unquestionable commitment to political neutrality.

The second press conference with Bach in the two and a half weeks of the Olympics, which was scheduled for an hour, ended after 72 minutes without Bach being asked a question about the human rights situation in China or about how tennis player Peng Shuai was treated.

A number of questions could not be asked, IOC spokesman Mark Adams asked for a "sincere apology" with reference to the schedule.