© AP
ARTISTIC SKATING-BACH
The president of International Olympic Committee (IOC) Thomas Bach joined global support for Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva on Friday by criticizing her entourage and questioning whether the 15-year-old athlete should be under such pressure at the Winter Olympics in Beijing.
His tone shocked Olympic fans — accustomed to hearing Bach defend Russian athletes despite the 2014 doping scandal — and drew a swift response from Moscow.
Valieva’s emotional breakdown following a series of errors on the ice rink and the inexcusable questioning of her coach shook millions of people, especially following the drama of the last week for her positive for doping. Bach said he felt the same way and spent much of the news conference lashing out at Russia.
“I felt very, very affected yesterday when I watched the competition on television,” Bach acknowledged during the latest developments at an Olympics that began with Russian President Vladimir Putin sitting in an exclusive box at the opening ceremony despite an increase in soldiers. Russians near the border with Ukraine.
Bach directly criticized Valieva’s team, saying they “showed tremendous coldness, which was chilling to watch.”
Bach’s remarks sparked an argument with a Russian reporter. Later, the spokesman for the KremlinDimitry Peskov pointed out that Bach “does not like the toughness of our coaches, but everyone knows that in elite sport, the toughness of the coaches is the key to the victory of the students.”
The unending Olympics story of unethical behavior by Russian sports officials has overshadowed the fifth consecutive Games in Bach’s nine years at the helm of the IOC. IOC critics say the Valieva doping scandal is the result of Russia’s decades-long flouting of the rules and that she has had no real punishment from the IOC.
Even in Beijing, Russia is technically barred from participating for the third consecutive Olympics, but hundreds of Russian athletes are competing in their “Russian Olympic Committee” colors, flag and uniforms. And they are hanging more medals than any other country except Norway.
The IOC with Bach at the helm has tried to keep Russia in the Olympic Games under the argument of the need to allow a new generation of “clean athletes” to continue competing.
“Lack of leadership keeps athlete abuse going and exposes lack of oversight,” Rob Koehler of the advocacy group Global Athlete said Friday.
The reaction around the world following seeing the Russian figure skaters in tears following the results of the figure skating competition were announced seems to have led to the change in tone at the IOC. Anna Shcherbakova won gold, Alexandra Trusova silver and Valieva dropped to fourth place.
Trusova and Valieva cried at the sight of the scores. Trusova spoke of retiring at 17 and the public questioned the pressure they have at such a young age.
The mental health of athletes and the safety of adolescent girls in sport is a clear responsibility of sports organizations and Bach had to react.
