Mistakes will not be forgiven: Eteri Tudberidze (right) and Kamila Valiyeva at the Olympic Games in Beijing Image: Picture Alliance
Kamila Valiyeva, probably the best student she ever had, has now been banned for several years: How figure skating coach Eteri Tutberidze in Russia trains teenagers to become sports soldiers.
Almost six years ago, at the Winter Olympics in Gangneung, South Korea, a Russian athlete who had just turned 18 at the time said a few sentences that summed up the psychological component that Moscow figure skating coach Eteri Tutberidze added to the physical drill she was doing imposed on their figure skaters. Yevgenia Medvedeva, Tutberidze student, then the favorite for the Olympic gold medal, said of the duel with Tutberidze student Alina Zagitova: “When we get on the ice, it’s sport. Real sport. Sport is war.”
Sport is war. And figure skating is an essential battle for the warlord in the Kremlin. To win them over, female soldiers are needed. Eteri Tutberidze trains them. She selects and drills, drills and selects young girls. The children jump, jump, jump, jump. And grow as little as possible. The best teenagers are chased into the spotlight with the mission of winning the battle and winning gold for Russia. Jump, turn their little bodies four times, collect points. Win. And step away when it’s no longer possible, the body or the head rebels. Time for the next soldier.
