Figure Skating Gold Medalist On Russian Skating Coach: ‘It Was Just Alarming’ 

Trusova wasn’t just having a ‘temper tantrum’. She has been starved, separated from her family, worked to injury, and pitted against her teammates to the point of animosity. She was believed to take home the gold and knows that with Eteri’s dangerous techniques she won’t ever be able to compete in the Olympics again due to her age at only 17. The 3A have admitted to daily weigh-ins and not being allowed to DRINK WATER on competition days due to the added weight. It’s no wonder she snapped under the pressure of failing what she sees as her only chance. Poor sportsmanship, absolutely. But it is expected! I would do the same!

I feel for Alexandra Trusova as well as Kamila. They call it a temper tantrum, but what I saw was a teenager realizing that her lifelong dream of an Olympic gold medal will never happen for her, given the fact that Eteri’s skaters tend to have such short careers, and that must have been just devastating.

If this is how this coach is when she knows others are watching and recording. Can you imagine what she is like when she knows no one is watching or listening to her.

I feel so sorry for the three girls! Trusova was having a mental breakdown, she wasn’t just being spoiled! I don’t think we can begin to understand what these girls have endured...

Doping Valieva is abuse in the first place, so why is anyone surprised at how abusive her coach was when she had difficulties?

I have admired Scott Hamilton since I was a kid. He's such a generous man and shows the empathy and kindness this young girl needed and should have had. Very wise words from him on this, I hope someone with the right connections heard them.

It's alarming when you look into Russia's coach, Eteri, and see that she has a very long history of using and abusing her students, only to throw them away when their bodies give out under the pressure of her likely abusive coaching. None of her students have ever been able to cross into an adult figure skating career because their bodies start breaking down at the age of 17. Everyone in the figure skating community knows this, but no one has done anything to stop her!

The state organised child abuse of these skaters is appalling and must end immediately. The worldwide skating authorises must punish the coaches and trainers who instigate this mental and physical abuse and doping. It’s been going on for many years and must now be stopped.

I certainly do miss Scott Hamilton's figure skating commentary. He's stellar.

The IOC is a Joke. They know perfectly well what’s going on, and the “machine” behind Russia’s Olympic Athletes was on full display, in all it’s meanness and ugliness. I feel for these young girls, training under such horrible people with such unrelenting expectations. Disgusting.

My heart just broke for those girls on the Russian team. They're essentially being doped up pimped out and aren't protected by their entourage and coaches all for a medal. The coach is a real piece of work.

You shouldn't have put her in that position. The IOC failed. She failed a drug test. She shouldn't have skated. And these coaches should never coach again!

That woman coach & ROC should be investigated for abusing their young athletes just to get the GOLD medal.

Scott Hamilton is a national treasure. Would love to see him arrange for Valieva to come here, train clean, and maybe return to the Olympics in 2026. That type of kindness, the expression of confidence in her, and the recognition that she was not responsible for the controversy surrounding her, might be what she needs to come out of this without long lasting emotional scars that come with being the poster child for Doping and Child abuse in sport.

The coach eteri is literally breaking young girls leaving them to retire so early on due to back injuries or other complications. It's sad to see that the girls have so much fighting power, but they just "break" when or before they reach the age of 20

Soulless coaches The IOC olympic committee doesn’t walk the talk. Do something to HELP these kid skaters . Hypocrisy at its zenith.

I totally agree with Scott . Why were ROC EVEN ALLOW TO COME TO THE OLYMPICS. ALL THESE GIRLS WERE ABUSED AND USED BY THEIR GOVERNMENT.

There is a documentary on the overstress training of these young bodies. They skate with injuries and injured backs. Parents are kept away from very young children in training. It is Machiavellian.

It’s almost like forcing children to sacrifice their entire childhood in a bid to represent a nation, particularly during times of political turmoil, isn’t a good thing. Could it be that isolating them from their peers, controlling their food, forcing them into intense physical activities beyond what their bodies are capable of, isolating them with intensely controlling individuals whose “coaching” would be seen as abuse under any other circumstances, and subjecting them to intense pressure, and ignoring all social emotional milestones their peers are experiencing could result in a poor emotional state for vulnerable children! To think that this sort of environment could lead to severe mental health issues. It’s almost like child sacrifice with extra steps.

Scott Hamilton has the guts to tell it like it is.

"Maybe Russia just needs to be deleted from the Games entirely"...amen, Scott.

Sasha didn’t have a temper tantrum, it was a full blown meltdown from years for being told that if she jumped all 5 quads she would win and when that didn’t happen she blew up. She’s also mad bc she wasn’t picked to be on the free program for the team event and have the honor to be the first woman to land a quad (that went to valieva) although Sasha was the first one to jump it and from there on everybody else has tried to jump it. She could’ve at least gotten the team gold and Eteri took that away from her.. it’s a long list of things as to why Sasha reacted in that manner, yes bc she thought she rightfully deserved the gold but also because she has been bottling up years worth of bad treatment from her coaches. She tried to leave them once but the Eteri “bonus” really made a difference so she went back to them specifically to she can try and reach that Olympic gold. She’s a champion in many peoples eyes, no one has ever landed 5 quads let alone at the Olympics, she’s made history happen gold or not.

Kaori Sakamoto showed absolute class and compassion. I applaud her.

Simone Biles and Naomi Osaka have shown this is not just an age issue. Expectations form sport federations, Olympic Committees, sponsors, the media and even fans have grown to epic proportions that are just not humanely possible to meet, particularly for successful athletes in high profile sports.

I appreciate the doctor's mention of Norway, and the importance of nurturing well-rounded individuals.

That little girl is breaking my heart. This just isn't right. That kid needs good people around her

As Tara Lipinski said in an interview this week, “if a country or player can’t play by the rules, they shouldn’t play”. If the Olympic committee would have put their foot down, we wouldn’t even be having this conversation. I think more than Russia is to blame here. Thoughts….

Bach is just as guilty. He’s done nothing to protect this sport.

Kamila has been emotionally traumatized…..on a world stage. She might not recover and that’s the reality of how much her coaches have abused her and possibly the rest of the team.

Sadly, she's a product for their glory , not a girl with feelings.

You can just see how much Scott's heart breaks for her. The face he expressed when she mentioned the long-term effects of these drugs can have on these girls was pure empathy & sadness. He is such a good human. I remember watching him when he landed a backflip in the '94 Olympics & the crowd went wild! He was magnificent!!

I am very impressed by Scott, so sensitive and to the point. I agree with everything he said. Thanks Scott.

Tutberidze and company should be totally banned from the Olympics!!! They are totally disgusting how they treat their athletes!! My heart breaks for Valieva she has such great talent!!!

They need to suspend Russia. It’s ridiculous.

The Russian machine is being exposed and it is broken!!! Scott is spot on!!!

Scott really is a father figure in this sport.

Scott's take is always right on the money. Valieva should leave Eteri's "factory" ASAP.

This is a child abuse.

It's kind of telling that none of Eteri's previous successful trainees never shine again after the age of 18, however great they were. Where is Zagitova & Medvedeva now? Lipnitskaya had to retire at 19(!), just three years after winning gold at the Olympics. It's really sad to imagine what Trusova must've felt, knowing being 17 she'd soon pass her prime age in Sambo-70, even with all her quads.

What a heartless, evil woman! No compassion to this young, talented lady. Ban this awful coach permanently!

I feel so bad/sad for Kamila, and her coach is a heartless disgrace.

So sad to see this teenager the age of my own son under such scrutiny, stress, and ultimately abuse. I hope these young women all get the help they need.

Scott said it'. "Russia should be deleted from the games entirely"

It breaks my heart for that poor girl, she’s worked so hard. Then to be scolded, just shameful.

I ran track and cross country through school, and went to state championships two years. Good coaches don't need to yell at you if you are doing poorly. You are fully aware of this without being yelled at about it. They make sure that you know that you did something wrong if you were unaware of something, but they don't rub your nose in it. That does not motivate people. A coach is there to help you improve, not tear you down. It makes them defensive and unable to play well and relaxed. The best coach I ever had never raised his voice, and he took championship runners to state every year he was there. When he died many of the guys he coached flew from all over the country to attend his funeral. I wonder how many of her skaters will come to her funeral.

Russia should have been banned from the Olympics after the Soichi doping scandal.

So much of this sports world is actually really sickening. I have no interest in watching. I still cheer that young black gymnast who, last summer, said enough is enough, and walked away. That world is obscene.

This girl was abused and failed by every adult around her from her parents right down to the coaches and the Olympic committee. What a tragedy for this young girl. I am sad for her. 😥

I love Scott Hamilton. Just the best man with a heart of gold. Just the best.

This is the third time that Russia has initiated military action during the Olympic games. That’s not coincidence. 2008 Beijing Olympics: invasion of Georgia. 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics: invasion of Ukraine. 2022 Beijing Olympics: current actions.

I agree with 100% with what Scott Hamilton said. She needs to get away from that coach and train with someone who truly cares about their athletes. None of the girls that were trained by that woman were treated right. She shouldn’t be allowed to train athletes anymore.

After hearing the details of the blatant drug cheating in Sochi and what Scott Hamilton had to say here, it may be time for Russia to be excluded from the Olympic Games altogether.

"Have we learned nothing"? Um, have you seen the "news" lately? No. We haven't learned a thing.

This Russian coach and any other countries coach that behave and treat athletes in such a way should be banned from coaching future Olympians. This youngster's hard work and dedication is hard enough for them, they need encouragement instead of harsh criticism.

Scott, I couldn’t agree with you more! Let’s just remove ROC out of the picture. This whole women’s figure skating Olympics competition was a disgrace.

Please dont call Trusova throwing a “temper tantrum” she has worked so hard to master quad and promised that with her technical skills she would already have gold She felt cheated upon. Please be understanding, her “tantrum” that you have called is not moral or character deficiency but may actually emphasize there is something very very wrong and needed to be banned from Eteri

I loved what you had to say Scott...let her make choices for herself in where she wishes to train. Her country failed her in her beauty and potential. I love the idea of her being able to choose. We can all see the incredible talent of these women...take away the country...how about honoring her as a human who has talent and grace and give her the chance to develop in that frame of being? Times are changing...I opt in for these beautiful young people to choose their destiny, in a location in the world that will nurture their being...just for the sake of being human and developing our potentials from there!!

This is horrifying for these girls 😢.

Tutberidze, the skating coach in question here, has a long history of destroying the bodies of young Russian women to achieve medals for a few years between 15-17 then 'retiring' at 18 with totally destroyed spines. Honestly she should be completely removed from participating in skating at all, in addition everything this teenage girl is going through is the fault of her coaches.

How messed up is it that a child abuser gets to have so much power in figure skating just because she squeezes gold medals out of overworked children and knows which palms to grease?

The more I look at this, the more I feel that she was made to skate. It wasn’t about letting her skate. This is the ultimate tragedy these poor girls. I just want to hug them all and give them the love and comfort that they should have been given. Trusova, didn’t have a temper tantrum in my opinion, it was the emotion of the moment and the effects of the apparent emotional manipulation from her coaching team. She should have our sympathy not our negative judgment.

These Russian coaches forget, Johnny Weir is fluent in Russian and reads lips. In fact, their voraciousness leaves them without any defense. When their own winning skaters hearts are breaking, it's as if that makes no difference to the coaches. No shame, no regret.

Thank you Scott Hamilton for always being a source of truth and strength in the face of unsavory practices.

The Soviet contingency needs to be further penalized for continuing their "doping". Using a loophole for athletes under 16 cannot be suspended from participating in a competition and a unproven (unbelievable) explanation for the presence of the banded drug in her system and test sample. I am a pharmacy tech and I use to collect drug screen samples for labs. There is no way that "sharing" eating and drinking utensils would lead to her getting the drug in her system. The pills do not dissolve enough in the mouth when taken to register in a urine/blood sample of a second hand user of the medicated person's items. There are quantitative tests that can be done to test how much of the "drugs" are in the testee's system. They do quick qualitative testing that just gives a positive or negative result. The quant will say where the amount found in her system and if it is in the "therapeutic" range for a female for her age, weight and height. If it is way low, than she may have accidentally taken the drug or that her handlers started cleaning her out the week before the testing and then the games. If she is in range, then they are lying and she was being doped for performance. Just pathetic. This is in my opinion another form of trafficking of under age male and females and using them in sports for the narcissistic leaders of athletic associations to gain fame and glory.

Valieva will be off the scene next year; another cookie cutter, pre-pubescent skater will take her place. And the audiences will cheer. The severe training methods and restricted eating cause these young people life-changing injuries. They are not trained for longevity as were the great champions of not so long ago. Their bodies keep the harms for the rest of their lives. Once she hits puberty her jumping will be affected. As she has not learned proper technique, she will not be as successful. The technique of pre-rotating jumps puts severe force on the spine. The audience may love the quad jumps, but know that you are witnessing the end result of abusive, damaging training. It is sad for these girls as they can not enjoy long careers and they have mental/physical problems as a result. Is the gold medal worth this abuse ? Athletes are not machines. The doping is not fair to the other athletes, was she 'commanded' to stumble for the sake of the medal ceremony ? The Russian delegation should be banned for awhile ; and the age for senior competition should be raised to 17.

I completely agree with Scott, Kamila deserve another chance to realize her real talent.

“Why did you let go after the axel? Why did you give up?” Seriously? You need to ask?

We need more Scott Hamilton in 2022! 🙌

These Russian coaches should be kicked out of the sport. I like Scotts idea to get Kamila out of that coaching staff and bring her to the USA to rebuild and start fresh.

who is to say that her "physical maturity" Scott lauded was also not a result of a chemical diet in her early years. If they are doping 15 year olds in that camp, they are almost certainly doping 12 year olds.

Her so called team has failed her!! This is me of the worst things I have ever seen!

I agree with Scott 100 percent. Absolutely they need to investigate and do something.

Their only concern is her performance. The coaches of Kamila doesn't even care about her feelings. She needs comfort and love right now , it's very hard for her to compete without a medal even if she is on top of the list of the competition. Heartbreaking!

What Russia did to this child is horrific. First they force fed gets drugs and then abandon her. Russia should be banned from the future Olympics.

Can we talk about the eating disorders as well? That can affect a woman for life! I have to wonder if they weren't trying to treat her for something as a result from the abuses in the "training" system.

The coach Tutberidze also teaches skating in a way that her athletes keep getting major injuries and having to stop skating before they reach 25. Not to mention 15 year old girls having their food restricted to keep them from gaining weight and also not being allowed to see their parents.

I am ashamed of all these adults who are bullying this 15 year old girl after every one was praising her a month ago! Especially Tara and Johnny!

Valieva needs to defect from Russia, such a talent. She needs to get away from her coaching staff.

my heart goes out to this young lady

I am a huge fan of Scott's wonderful commentary; he so interesting and insightful. I miss his commentary during competitions very much.

Scott Hamilton is The Godfather of ice skating. Glad he’s speaking out.

“Maybe Russia needs to be deleted from the games, entirely.”

Love seeing Scott Hamilton. ❤ Such wise and on point commentary!

Valieva deserves a second chance. Skating had been her life since she was a young child. She showed exceptional talent as young as 5 years old when kids are learning to do somersaults and run. What she immediately needs is a loving care entourage that takes the unreasonable expectations off her. Let her find the love of skating again with no pressure. Being with a person like Ektarena Gordeeva who understands the Russian system and who is gentle and kind could provide a healing environment. Going back to Russia would be destructive to her.

Russia team abused skaters

Scott Hamilton is so articulate and intelligent. He was an incredible athlete in his day and has the respect of the skating community. His comments are fair and reasonable.

I hate hearing Thomas Bach act like he's ashamed when he's the one that's let the Russian coaches loose for years.

I agree with Mark on everything except Alexandra Trusova having a tamptrum. We do not know what coach Cruella promised or told her. She also is the only person on the planet who can do 5 quads in a program and she is only 17.

Sadly, none of those Russian skaters are likely to ever compete again. All three are just too badly broken.

I competed in the same circle of Scott. But stopped at 14. I agree with everything he said. Proud of you!

"The dog ate my homework" is really it. The Olympic officials should never have allowed this. Force Russia to pay the price for their crap. They clearly need correction and new coaches.

Kamila is an example of the Russian tragedy and the environment that Vladimir Putin has created.

Abuse... she's a minor. Where are the adults in the room?

I really despise her coach, WTF. My heart went out to this poor girl!

As a older fan, seeing beautiful Russian skating for decades, it would be a great tragedy to not see them at the Olympics. I agree with Scott, no Russia equals a lower standard of competition. Remember all the great skaters of the past, who did not take any med considered doping. Respect their achievements.

1. change the scoring system. it's 20 yrs old now and judges have learned to cheat using the PCS scores. This is a huge reason why the russian female skaters are scoring so highly in recent years even though everyone can see that their fundamentals like edge works and rotations are so deficient. This feeds back into the training system to keep producing younger and younger skaters with these fancy difficult elements built on deficient fundamentals. 2. remove the "protected person" clause. If you're old enough to qualify for the Olympics, you are old enough to be subject to the same rules as everyone. 3. hold Eteri Tutberidze accountable for.... mistreatment.... of underage skaters, and doping allegations. Investigate Sambo 70

Thomas Bach's hypocrisy is repulsive ... if he had ANY decency at all the Russian coach would have been kicked straight out of the stadium.

I love Scott Hamilton’s compassion and reasoned commentary.

Don't we love Scott Hamilton? He continues to bless the world and ice skating

Someone save the poor girl!!!