Maybe the Coach Is the Problem

Regardless of whether you think she should've been cleared to compete or not, how could you be anything but heartbroken watching Kamila Valiyeva last night?  Here's this 15-year-old girl with the weight of the world on her shoulders, having been fed to the wolves, (predictably) falling apart on the biggest stage.  It all clearly affected her.  And you can tell she was devastated.

So how did her coach react to Valiyeva's performance?  By criticizing her and pointing out everything she did wrong immediately as she stepped off the ice!  As if she didn't know she blew it!  It really was a disturbing scene, and that wasn't even the worst part of it.

It was so bad that IOC President Thomas Bach, in a very uncharacteristic move, was openly critical of the "cold" reception the Russians received.  It really was painful to watch, and it especially wasn't a good look for a sport that has been embroiled in controversy for most of the Olympics.  And to watch this play out with the same cast of characters only made matters worse.

Then you had Anna Shcherbakova, who'd just won an Olympic gold medal, sitting all by herself not sure what to do.  It was the biggest moment of her life and she couldn't even celebrate!  Meanwhile, you had silver medalist Alexandra Trusova breaking down because she definitely had a "second is just the first loser" mindset.  She even said "everybody has one (a gold medal) but me" and said how much she "hates the sport."

All three girls (and I use "girls" here intentionally since they're all teenagers) are coached by the same woman--Eteri Tutberidze.  Tutberidze has earned quite a (deserved) reputation for helping to revolutionize the sport with her stable of skaters who perform quads with ease.  She's made the Russians so dominant that not only is no one else even close, it'll probably take years for anybody to even catch up.

But...because there are so many skaters in that stable, they're easily expendable.  They're like those cars at the dealership that are still perfectly fine, but still marked down to half price because they need to make room for the new model.  Tutberidze, meanwhile, is that person who stands outside the Apple store for hours just to get in line so she can be one of the first to get the new iPhone as soon as it comes out...even though she already has the current model.

Perhaps it's no coincidence, then, that the shelf-life of any Tutberidze skater is one Olympics.  Remember Yuliya Lipnitskaya, the dynamo from the Sochi Games?  She's 23 now.  I think she just filed for the Russian version of social security.  The 2018 gold and silver medalists, Alina Zagitova and Elena Medvedeva are 19 and 22.  I think they both need a walker now.  The Beijing trio will likely join them at the retirement home before the Milan-Cortina Games.  Gotta make room for the new 15-year-olds!

And why are all of her skaters in the 15-17 age range?  Because they're the ones who don't know any better!  They'll put their bodies through the hundreds and hundreds of quad jumps in practice because their bodies can handle it.  Alysa Liu, who won her first U.S. title at 14, has basically said as much.  She basically felt invincible and never thought twice about doing all those jumps.  Until her body couldn't take that pounding anymore.  And she doesn't even do quads!  Let alone multiple quads in the same program!

Is it really a surprise then that when these Russians retire after their one and only Olympics, it's because of a chronic injury?  And to what part of the body?  The back.  Or hip.  Or knee.  Or foot.  Or leg.  Aka, all of the body parts used to do quad jump upon quad jump over and over again.  And for what?  Only one of them will get to be Olympic champion, so is it even worth it?

As a part of their Valiyeva investigation, the IOC and WADA have said that her entourage will be heavily scrutinized.  And it should be.  Because, as everyone in the West who's been relentless this whole time has finally realized, Valiyeva isn't the villain here.  She's a victim.  The adults around her failed her then left her all alone to deal with the fallout.  And when everything collapsed how did they react?  Not with compassion and sympathy but with coldness and criticism.

You can bet that Tutberidze's methods will be one of the many things they look at as part of their investigation.  Because it doesn't seem like her coaching style is healthy.  Especially for 15-17-year-old young women.  It gets results and they've done incredible things that have pushed women's figure skating to new heights.  But at what cost?

A lot of articles about the women's free skate and the aftermath have called it child abuse playing out in real time in front of an international audience.  Tara Lipinski also tried to change her reason for saying why she believed Valiyeva shouldn't have been allowed to skate by questioning what type of an impact what happened would have on her mental health (the hypocrisy of her being a part of the Western media that was relentlessly piling on for a week, which certainly contributed to that, was evidently lost on her).  Frankly, what happened to Valiyeva shouldn't have been a surprise.  It was entirely predictable.

As everyone has finally began to realize, the people around Valiyeva are as responsible for her failed test as she is...if not more so.  There were three drugs in her system, the one that caused the positive result, as well as two that are legal.  What's more likely?  That a 15-year-old devised that little cocktail herself or that someone she trusted gave it to her?  Win at all costs.

That win at all costs mentality in Eteri Tutberidze's camp has produced some incredible results.  But is it good for figure skating and, more importantly, the young women it exploits?  Because it's not just Valiyeva.  She's just the latest example of a skater who's been failed by the people around her.  And, sadly, she probably won't be the last.  Unless something changes.  And that starts by taking a long, hard look at Eteri Tutberidze.