- Ex-skipper Skelton eyes Wallabies November return
- Spanish great Iniesta leaves indelible legacy after retirement
- Indian Kashmir elects first regional government in a decade
- Hong Kong stocks crash, oil prices retreat on fading China boost
- Man City accuse Premier League of 'misleading' claims after legal case
- Duo wins Physics Nobel for key breakthroughs in AI
- Agha defies England as Pakistan post 515-8 in first Test
- September second-warmest on record: EU climate monitor
- Pastor wanted by US for sex trafficking to run for Philippine senate
- Mozambican writer Mia Couto dreams future leaders set an 'example'
- German 'Maddie' suspect could be free soon after cleared of separate sex crimes
- China says to take anti-dumping measures against EU brandy imports
- German suspect in 'Maddie' case cleared in separate sex crimes trial
- Israel expands offensive against Hezbollah in south Lebanon
- China stocks rally fizzles on stimulus worries amid Asia retreat
- Bangladesh's Yunus says no elections before reforms
- England strike twice as Pakistan reach 397-6 at lunch in first Test
- China stocks rally peters out on stimulus worries amid Asia retreat
- Taiwan's Foxconn says building world's largest 'superchip' plant
- Kenya's deputy president faces impeachment vote
- N. Korean soldiers 'highly likely' killed in Ukraine: Seoul
- 'Appeals Centre' to referee EU social media disputes
- US Supreme Court to hear 'ghost guns' regulation case
- 'Small' oil leaks detected in Samoa after NZ navy shipwreck
- Nobel literature jury may go for non-Western writer
- At Istanbul church, blessed spring offers hope to Christians and Muslims
- From Bolivia to Indonesia, deforestation continues apace
- Myanmar to send rep to regional summit for first time in three years
- Prabowo set to lead bolder Indonesia on world stage
- Tampa zoo rushes Chompers the porcupine and others to safety as Milton nears
- Shanghai stocks pare early surge on stimulus worries amid Asia retreat
- New Japan PM to hold talks on ASEAN sidelines
- Record number of climbers chase 14-peak dream in Tibet
- Former South Korea clinic for US 'comfort women' to be demolished
- China holds off on fresh stimulus but 'confident' will hit growth target
- Chiefs battle past Saints to stay unbeaten
- Deal on climate aid hangs in balance at UN COP29 summit
- Royals hit back against Yankees, Tigers maul Guardians
- German suspect in 'Maddie' case faces verdict in sex crimes trial
- Top economic official 'confident' China will hit 2024 growth target
- COP29 fight looms over climate funds for developing world
- Shanghai stocks soar to extend stimulus rally amid Asia-wide drop
- Australia moves to expand Antarctic marine park
- Tragedy of Madrid street sweeper highlights how heatwaves kill
- Survivors wait for aid as Trump's lies help cloud Helene response
- Fleeing Israeli bombs, Lebanon's displaced met with suspicion
- Jila Mossaed, from refugee poet to Swedish Academy
- Will Tesla's robotaxi reveal live up to hype?
- Drugs, people smuggling at heart of Mexico's raging violence
- 'Invisibility' and quantum computing tipped for physics Nobel
CMSC | -0.53% | 24.57 | $ | |
NGG | -1.56% | 65.48 | $ | |
RIO | -0.11% | 69.62 | $ | |
GSK | -0.49% | 38.63 | $ | |
BTI | -0.26% | 35.2 | $ | |
SCS | -0.15% | 12.95 | $ | |
AZN | -0.78% | 76.87 | $ | |
BCC | 1.68% | 141.27 | $ | |
RBGPF | 100% | 60.52 | $ | |
JRI | -0.76% | 13.18 | $ | |
CMSD | -0.09% | 24.79 | $ | |
BP | 0.78% | 33.14 | $ | |
BCE | -0.54% | 33.53 | $ | |
RYCEF | -0.15% | 6.87 | $ | |
VOD | 0.31% | 9.69 | $ | |
RELX | -0.54% | 46.04 | $ |
Olympic chief Bach hits out at 'chilling' reaction of Valieva coach
Thomas Bach said Friday it was "chilling" to see how Kamila Valieva's coach treated the Russian teenager after a doping scandal engulfing the skater culminated in an error-strewn performance at the Beijing Olympics.
The International Olympic Committee president said he was "very disturbed" to see the 15-year-old fall several times in Thursday's women's figure skating final, as she unravelled and sobbed under the glare of the global spotlight.
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) is looking into Valieva's entourage, after the doping controversy tarnished the second week of the Games in the Chinese capital.
"I was very disturbed when I watched it on TV," Bach said, adding Valieva was treated with "a tremendous coldness" by her coaches after the calamitous free skate routine which saw her finish fourth and miss out on a medal.
The pre-Games favourite for gold was distraught afterwards but Russian coach Eteri Tutberidze was seen demanding to know what had gone wrong as Valieva came off the ice, her head bowed and looking pale.
"Why did you let it go? Why did you let it go? Tell me," Tutberidze can be heard saying.
Bach told a news conference: "When I afterwards saw how she was received by her closest entourage with what appeared to be such a tremendous coldness, it was chilling to see this."
The doping affair will rumble on long after the Games have ended, and Valieva could yet be punished.
The teenager was controversially cleared to carry on at the Games despite failing a test in December for trimetazidine, a drug used to treat angina but which is banned for athletes by WADA because it can boost endurance.
Bach said that seeing Valieva's Russian teammate Alexandra Trusova also highly agitated after her silver medal-winning routine confirmed his concerns about the people around the teenage skaters.
"I was pondering about whether you can be really so cold but when I saw and read today how Alexandra Trusova was being treated, I am afraid that this impression I had last night was not the wrong one," said Bach.
"All of this does not give me much confidence in this close entourage of Kamila."
The doping scandal has dominated the second week of an Olympics whose build-up was overshadowed by worries about human rights in China, possible disruption by Covid and environmental concerns -- the Games have taken place almost entirely on man-made snow.
Valieva's predicament has also focused attention once more on Russian athletes at Olympic Games and the IOC's decision to allow Russians supposedly deemed clean of doping to participate.
They are taking part in Beijing under the banner of the Russian Olympic Committee because Russia as a country is serving a two-year ban as punishment for a state-sponsored doping programme.
Bach said that Valieva had "a drug in her body which obviously should not be in her body.
"The ones who have administered this drug in her body, these are the ones who are guilty," he said, while also defending the IOC's actions.
The IOC had challenged a Russian Anti-Doping Agency decision to drop its suspension of Valieva at the Games.
- Another gold for Gu -
Californian-born Chinese freeskier Eileen Gu won her second gold medal of the Olympics and third medal overall, 12 hours after Valieva dissolved under the world spotlight.
The 18-year-old Gu's scintillating victory in the halfpipe confirmed her as the face of the Olympics and was the antidote the Games were crying out for.
Gu, who switched allegiance from the United States to China in 2019, won halfpipe gold with another commanding performance.
Canada's Cassie Sharpe took silver while another Canadian, Rachael Karker, claimed bronze.
Finland charged into the final of the men's ice hockey for the first time in 16 years with a 2-0 win over Slovakia.
The Finns will play the winner of Friday's later semi-final between defending champions Russia and Sweden.
Meanwhile, Bach said the IOC had called an immediate meeting with Chinese organisers to remind them to keep politics out of the Olympics, after a local spokeswoman hit back at "lies" about Xinjiang, where China is accused of widespread rights abuses.
"Both organisations, BOCOG and the IOC, have restated the unequivocal commitment to remain politically neutral, as it is required by the Olympic Charter," Bach said.
Th.Berger--AMWN