IOC president Thomas Bach has joined the abundance of spectators that are criticizing the situation surrounding Russian Olympic Committee figure skater Kamila Valieva. Bach specifically called out the amount of pressure that is put on young athletes like Valieva.
"I was very, very disturbed yesterday when I watched the competition on TV," Bach said following Thursday's women's free skate competition, according to the Associated Press.
Valieva finished in fourth place in the event.
Bach added that Valieva's entourage and teammates showed "a tremendous coldness" towards her after she fell multiple times in the free skate and said "it was chilling to see."
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov fired back at Bach and said that he "does not like the toughness of our coaches, but everyone knows that in elite sports, the coach's toughness is key to the students' victories."
It's a big deal that Bach made the statements, because ordinarily he/the IOC do not comment on ongoing investigations. Also of note, as the AP pointed out, is that Bach called out the ROC athletes and coaches after Vladimir Putin was seen sitting in the "VIP section" at the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics earlier in February.
On Monday, Valieva was cleared to continue competing in the women's figure skating competition at the Winter Olympics. However, regardless of how she finishes in any event, Valieva nor any of her teammates will have a medal ceremony, even though they would be recognized as the winners of the event. Valieva and the Russian Olympic Committee team have already won gold in the team figure skating event in Beijing.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport cleared Valieva to continue taking part in the Beijing Olympics after a hearing took place. Judges ruled that Valieva, who is 15, isn't going to be suspended for the positive test.
Valieva tested positive for the drug trimetzidine, which is typically used to treat people with a heart condition, on Dec. 25 at the Russian nationals. However, the Swedish lab that conducted the test didn't release the results until earlier in February after the Games had already begun.
