MOSCOW, Feb. 18 Beijing Olympic silver medalist coach Victoria Sinitsina and Nikita Katsalapova Alexander Zhulin addressed an open letter to the President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Thomas Bach, in which he defended his colleague Eteri Tutberidze. During a briefing on Friday, the head of the IOC expressed bewilderment at how coldly the coaches welcomed Valieva after her free program at the Beijing Olympics. He added that such an appeal raises doubts about the bright future of the athlete. Bach also said that if facts of ill-treatment of an athlete are discovered in the Valieva case, the perpetrators will face a very harsh punishment.
"I am very surprised by your reaction to the behavior of the Russian coach Eteri Tutberidze after the free program of her student Kamila Valieva. You write that you were worried about Camila the whole time, and the coach's reaction was very harsh. Coach Tutberidze has brought up six Olympic medalists and four Olympic champions since 2014 and she probably knows how and what to say to her students after performances", Zhulin wrote on Instagram.
«You, please, analyze your position in relation to a woman and a young girl, starting from February 8 of this year. From the position of a man, you behaved, in my opinion, cruelly and incorrectly. At least it’s not for you to teach manners to an outstanding coach, «he added.