IOC president Thomas Bach said Friday it was “chilling” to see how distraught Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva was treated by her coach after falling several times in the Beijing Olympics final.
Bach said he was “very disturbed” to see 15-year-old Valieva’s performance, having been controversially cleared to compete despite failing a drugs test in December.
“I was very disturbed when I watched it on TV,” Bach said of the calamitous free skate routine which saw the pre-competition favourite finish fourth and miss out on a medal.
After a visibly upset Valieva finished her performance, her famously demanding coach Eteri Tutberidze repeatedly asked her teenage charge “why did you let it go?”