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International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach has criticized Russian Kamila Valieva’s entourage for their “extreme coldness” towards the 15-year-old skater after her erratic free program.
Bach says it was “chilling” to watch on TV. Valieva, who was at the center of controversy surrounding a positive drug test, finished just off the podium despite finishing first in the short program earlier this week.
The IOC president did not name Valieva’s coach Eteri Tutberidze, who was seen on camera asking her visibly upset skater why she had given up and stopped fighting.
Bach said that “you could feel this chilling vibe, this distance”.
Tutberidze and other members of Valieva’s entourage will be investigated over the teenager’s positive test for heart medication ahead of the Olympics.
Bach claimed that the pressure exerted on Valieva was “beyond my imagination”.
Other doping case
The International Control Agency (ITA) has reported that Ukrainian bobsledder Lidiia Hunko has tested positive for an anabolic steroid.
The ITA says she failed a drug test after competing on Monday. She placed 20th in women’s monobob.
Hunko is the third athlete to test positive for doping at the Beijing Olympics and the second from Ukraine, after cross-country skier Valnetyna Kaminska.
In all three cases in Beijing, the ITA detected a steroid.
The 28-year-old Hunko finished second in the World’s Strongest Woman contest in 2016, according to her official biography as an Olympic athlete in Beijing.
