MOSCOW, February 18, Pavel Levkovich. Honored coach of the USSR Tatyana Tarasova criticized the statements President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Thomas Bach about the mistreatment of Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva by coaches. The head of the IOC said at a briefing on Friday that he was shocked by how coldly Valieva was received by her coaches when she left the ice after a free program at the Olympics, and expressed the opinion that such behavior of the athlete’s environment does not give confidence in her future. The IOC will find out if there are signs of child abuse in the Valieva case, those responsible will suffer the most severe punishment, Bach said. «I want to tell him only one thing: look at yourself! Who started all this?» — said Tarasova. Valieva's doping test, taken at the end of December, gave a positive result. The Court of Arbitration for Sport allowed the skater to participate in the individual Olympic tournament in Beijing. However, he postponed the award ceremony if Valieva gets into the top three, until the end of the investigation into the Russian figure skater. On Thursday at the Olympics in the women's single skating of the Russians, 15-year-old Valieva, who was in the lead after the short program, made a number of blunders and took fourth place.
