'At a loss' - Kamila Valieva coach Eteri Tutberidze responds to Thomas Bach 'chilling' comment at Winter Olympics

Eteri Tutberidze, the under fire figure skating coach, has responded after a strong backlash to her treatment of Kamila Valieva at the Winter Olympics, saying she is «at a loss» after criticism from IOC president Thomas Bach. Russia claimed gold and silver in the ladies' singles but the post-event atmosphere was not one of celebration. Anna Shcherbakova spoke of feeling an «emptiness inside» after winning the gold medal, while her team-mates, Valieva and Alexandra Trusova, were left very upset after the competition at Beijing 2022.

Ad/> A distraught Valieva missed out on a medal after a series of heartbreaking falls during her routine as Shcherbakova took the victory ahead of Trusova, who was shown to be furious with the result. Beijing 2022LeDuc makes history as first openly non-binary competitor at a Winter Olympics20 MINUTES AGO That was all while Tutberidze made headlines for her frosty reaction to Valieva missing out on a medal in a moment which IOC president Bach described as «chilling». «Why did you let it go?” she said to Valieva in a moment caught on camera.

»Explain it to me, why? Why did [you] stop fighting? You let it go after that axel. Why?" Bach said of Tutberidze's conduct: «When I afterwards saw how she was received by her closest entourage, with such, what appeared to be a tremendous coldness, it was chilling to see this. »Rather than giving her comfort, rather than to try to help her, you could feel this chilling atmosphere, this distance.” Tutberidze has now given her response to Bach.