Thomas Bach regretted the “icy” attitude of the entourage of the young Russian, at the end of the free program on Thursday, during which the teenager collapsed.
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He was in front of his television and he didn’t like what he saw. The President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Thomas Bach explained, Friday, February 18, to have been “very troubled” by the performance on the ice of Kamila Valieva, entangled in a resounding doping affair. Visibly proven, the 15-year-old Russian skater was unable to perform at their usual level in the free program of the Olympic Games on Thursday.
“My career [d’escrimeur] I know what pressure is. But this one was above what I can imagine”he said at a press conference in Beijing. “Seeing her crack on the ice, crying and trying to finish her program was difficult. In every movement, her body language, you could see the immense stress”continued the boss of the Olympic body. “She would surely have preferred to leave the ice and leave it all behind her.”
Thomas Bach also pointed out that he had no “a lot of confidence” around Kamila Valieva. He particularly regrets his attitude towards the skater after her competition. “It was freezing, instead of trying to help and comfort her. You could feel the distance and interpreting her body language [de son entraîneure], it was dismissive. How can you be so cold with your athlete? How can you treat a 15-year-old underage athlete like that?lamented Thomas Bach.
In the lead after the short program despite the scandal, the teenager completely missed her free program with several falls and finally ranked fourth. She left the ice in tears, her coach scolding her for her performance.
Kamelia Valieva, the young 15-year-old skater who tested positive for a doping product, could not bear the pressure.
She finished at the foot of the podium and left the title to her compatriot Anna Shcherbakova. #TLS #Beijing2022 pic.twitter.com/LfIS1MfTAe
— francetvsport (@francetvsport) February 17, 2022
She had been provisionally suspended on February 8 by the Russian anti-doping agency for a positive trimetazidine doping control, whose result fell the day after his victory in the Olympic team event with Russia. This product, used to relieve angina pectoris, has been banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency since 2014 because it promotes blood circulation.
If this control was carried out on the sidelines of the Russian Championships at the end of December, the Valieva affair splashes the 2022 Olympics. The day after the notification of its positive control, the skater obtained the lifting of his suspensiondecision confirmed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) just 24 hours before his short program.