Figure skating: Controversial Russian coach Eteri Tutberidze arrives at the Olympics

“Why did you give up? Tell me why you did that. Why did you stop fighting altogether?”

These words echoed at the Beijing Olympics when the Russian figure skating coach Eteri Tutberidze set up a 15-year-old who failed in his free program Kamila Valievaa.

Valjeva was already in the middle of a doping scandal, but Tutberidze did not comfort the crying skater.

Also the then chairman of the Olympic Committee Thomas Bach marveled at the coach’s reactions.

“I have to say that I found what I saw very, very disturbing.”

Instead, Tutberidze received strong support from the Kremlin.

“Bach doesn’t like the harshness of our coaches, but everyone knows that a harsh coach is a key factor in elite sports if you want to succeed,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov said according to news agency Reuters.

Rolled treatment is by no means the only thing that has upset the skating world. Polina Shuboderova told about the treatment he received in a live interview on Instagram. The interview was told by a German Bild magazine.

19-year-old Šuboderova claimed in an interview that Tutberidze forced her to sit on a garbage can after bad practices.

“Garbage belongs in garbage,” Šuboderova claims the coach said.

Now at the door it’s the Milan-Cortina Olympics – and Tutberidze is at it again. Skaters come and go, Russia is shelved, but Tutberidze will not disappear anywhere.

Now he brings his newest crop, an 18-year-old, to the Olympics by Adeliia Petrosian. He is, like most of Tutberidze’s coaches, quite a jumping machine at 152 cm. Petrosian, who is from Moscow, has a Russian mother and an Armenian father.

Competing under a neutral flag, Petrosian is one of the early favorites at the Olympics, but his biggest problem is that he has little competition due to injuries.

After recovering from a groin injury, he took part in the Olympic qualifier in Beijing in September and won the qualifier. Among other things, World and European Championship medalists were left behind. The total points were 209.63, with which he is 12th in the season’s world list, but the differences at the top are small.

Petrosian impressed at the Russian championships in St. Petersburg in December by performing a triple axel in the short program. It is the most difficult triple jump, as it involves spinning 3.5 times in the air.

The free program, on the other hand, did not go as well, for example the quadruple jump failed. However, he won the championship.

“Skaters usually take part in six or seven competitions before the Olympics, but I have fewer competitions. I would still like to compete before the Olympics, even if it’s not in front of a large audience,” Petrosian told news agency AFP after the Russian championships.

But how might Tutbridge feel about his coach’s skating at the Olympics this time? Petrosian’s comment speaks volumes.

“I hope I don’t disappoint myself and my coaches.”