(Beijing) President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Thomas Bach said on Friday that he was “very disturbed” by the performance on the ice of Russian skater Kamila Valieva, entangled in a resounding doping affair and, visibly tried, unable to evolve at its usual level in the free program of the JO-2022 on Thursday.
Posted yesterday at 10:43 p.m.
Mr. Bach also indicated during a press conference in Beijing that he did not have “much confidence” in the entourage of Kamila Valieva, notably regretting their coldness and their attitude towards the skater after her death. competition.
“I was very confused yesterday when I watched on TV (the figure skating free program). I saw a performance where we saw the pressure on his shoulders. My career means I know what the pressure is, but this one was above what I can imagine,” he said.
PHOTO BERNAT ARMANGUE, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Kamila Valieva
“Seeing her break down on the ice, cry and try to finish her program was difficult. In each movement, his body language, we saw the immense stress, ”continued the boss of the Olympic body. “She probably would have preferred to get off the ice and leave it all behind.”
“And how she was received by those around her coming out of the ice… It was freezing, instead of trying to help and comfort her. We felt the distance and interpreting her body language (from her trainer, editor’s note) it was dismissive. How can you be so cold with your athlete? lamented Bach.
“It doesn’t give me confidence in his surroundings, regardless of what may have happened, or will happen in the future, how (is it possible to) treat a 15-year-old underage athlete like that? “, he concluded.
Valieva, 15, was caught on the ice on Thursday by the case that dominates the 2022 Olympics. In the lead after the short program, she completely missed her free program with several falls and finally ranked 4and.
She left the ice in tears, her coach scolding her for her performance.
She had been provisionally suspended on February 8 by the Russian anti-doping agency for a positive anti-doping test for trimetazidine, the result of which fell the day after her 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 Olympic Games-2022. The day after the notification of his positive test, Valieva had obtained the lifting of his suspension, a decision confirmed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) only 24 hours before his short program.