International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach should stop “weaving his own fictional narrative” after he criticized figure skater Kamila Valieva’s coaching team, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko has said.
Speaking to journalists in Beijing on Friday, Bach claimed he had been “disturbed” by the reaction from Valieva’s trainers – including coach Eteri Tutberidize – after the teenager struggled badly in her free skate routine, finishing outside the medals.
Bach claimed Tutberidize had greeted the 15-year-old “coldly” after her performance and created a “chilling atmosphere.”
Those remarks were condemned by Chernyshenko, who is a key figure in Russian sport and was president of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics Organizing Committee.
“We are deeply disappointed to see an IOC president weave his own fictional narrative on the feelings of our athletes, and then present these publicly as the voice of the IOC,” Chernyshenko told Inside the Games.
“This is frankly inappropriate and wrong. Everyone recognizes the Olympics as the pinnacle of professional sport, and every single athlete bears the hopes and dreams of their entire nation for their success.
“That is a known pressure, and it is also what drives them forward, with a fighting spirit. Win or lose we know our athletes are world-beating, and they do too.”
Russian Sports Minister Oleg Matytsin was equally scathing of Bach.
“Comments are a personal matter, but when the president of the IOC speaks, they must be more restrained,” said the official.
“The personality of a trainer largely determines the results of the athletes. We have gold in the [figure skating] team competition, gold and silver in the individual competition, a silver medal in dancing, I hope that there will be medals in the pairs as well.”
Valieva had been the overwhelming favorite for the women’s individual title in Beijing, but her error-strewn performance on Thursday was widely seen to be the result of the immense pressure she has faced after her positive doping test was reported last week, based on a sample from December.
Valieva was cleared to compete by a Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) panel, even though the IOC, World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and International Skating Union (ISU) had combined to throw their weight behind an appeal to suspend her.
The news of her positive test came after Valieva had already competed in the team event in Beijing, helping the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) to the gold medal. The timing has raised significant questions, while Russian officials noted that Valieva repeatedly passed doping tests before and after the positive sample.
Thursday’s figure skating final was won by ROC star Anna Shcherbakova, with fellow 17-year-old Russian Alexandra Trusova taking silver.
The medal ceremony will be held in Beijing on Friday, the same day that Valieva is due to arrive back in Moscow.