Eteri Tutberidze remained silent for nearly five months before Russian figure skaters were excluded from international competitions. In March, the ISU refused to allow domestic athletes to participate in the 2022 World Cup, then extended their suspension indefinitely due to events in Ukraine.
Tutberidze remained neutral all this time and even flew to the United States for a long time.
Local journalist Dave Leese reported that his mentor was looking for an opportunity to train in America and that his daughter Diana Davis was ready to play for the USA team along with her ice dance partner and life partner Gleb Smolkin.
It is not known whether such attempts were actually made and what the results were. However, two weeks after Dave’s scandalous broadcast, Lisa Tutberidze denied his words (“Dave, you’re shit!” His mentor wrote on social networks), and two weeks later sharply condemned the removal of Russian skaters.
The coach said that he was upset about the future course of world figure skating life without Russian athletes.
“World Championships, Grand Prix distributions, ranking updates, etc… It’s all very, very frustrating.
I understand a lot, but I do not accept the removal of our athletes and children from international competitions. Sure, it’s easier to share medals and enjoy the little things, but where are the basics – fair play?
I think ratings shouldn’t be updated and titles shouldn’t be given while we’re gone – that’s ridiculous. “I know that it is the sport that unites all the athletes of the world and erases borders,” wrote Tutberidze.
The mentor also discussed this issue with Tatyana Tarasova under the cameras of Channel One. The following dialogues were recorded in the video:
Tarasova: As long as I’ve lived in the world, I haven’t seen it.
Tutberidze: No, it wasn’t.
Tarasova: Such despair – never. They have such a streak – they do not hear anything.
TutberidzeA: They teamed up, there is nothing better than being friends.
Tarasova: I can’t understand why such children are excluded from the competition.
Tutberidze: I don’t understand at all, what is suspension for them. Sports life is short.
Tarasova: These babies win everybody, so they want the Russians to calm down a bit. But we are a restless nation. We will not give them away. And when they release us, we’ll come out like beasts. We will take everything.
However, the International Skating Union refused to respond to the famous coach’s statement.
“The ISU does not yet plan to discuss the freeze of the world rankings in the context of the suspension of Russian athletes,” a TASS source said.
Tutberidze’s initiative was also condemned by the international figure skater community. For example, Megan Duhamel, Olympic champion and two-time world champion from Canada, mocked her mentor’s words about the lack of fair play (fair play), recalled that her student Kamila Valieva was accused of doping, so the Russian team has yet to win gold in the Beijing 2022 team tournament did not receive a medal.
“In the presence of the Eteri, the prizes at the Olympic Games were not awarded due to his failure to observe fair play. That’s why his statements are ridiculous, ”Duhamel wrote on social networks.
Ukrainian skater Ivan Shmuratko also responded to the post. He wrote that it is not “sports that blur the boundaries” between people, as Tutberidze claims, but “life”.
“Living and being happy is of course easier, but the basic principles of life? Live? No title matters when parents lose their sons and daughters. I know that it is life in the world that erases borders and unites people. The number of revolutions in the air does not define you as a person, ”the skater wrote.
On the Twitter account of the FS Gossips website, they expressed surprise that Tutberidze did not reveal his position for such a long time and even claimed that he was forced to do so:
“After several months of silence, we were surprised by his speech! After all, there was not a single word … And now … “.
“Eteri is publicly interested in what happens to the principle of fair play in sports – and that’s not irony! – Wrote a user with the pseudonym Disturbed and Evolving. “Why don’t you tell us about the “vitamins” your athletes take?”
But in Russia they supported Tutberidze’s position and defended his defense. The same Tarasova spoke sharply about Canadian Duhamel, calling the coach’s comments “absurd.”
“Who is this Duhamel? Why does he carry such a perversion? I dreamed a lot about myself,” quoting Sport24 Tarasova.
The famous trainer and commentator emphasized that Duhamel should respond to his words in a comment he made to Sport Express:
“Absolutely baseless allegations. When they hit him from all sides, give it to me, I’ll come over, he thinks I’ll hit him a little bit. He should respond to these words. He exposes them in the press, they need to be answered.
Renat Laishev, Head of the Sambo-70 Sports and Education Center, supported Tarasova’s words and accused the Canadian champion of jealousy.
Duhamel, that’s the price of cheap propaganda that makes our skaters jealous. We have the coolest, prettiest skaters and best trainer Eteri Tutberidze! I am proud that they are from Sambo-70. Well, Duhamel cannot calm down,” Match TV quotes Laishev.