It made me cry! If I were this child's parent(s) I would be seriously thinking of hiring someone to take this coach out...at least I'd be thinking that for a hot minute. Than I'd be planning on how fast to come get my kid and bring her home.
It was absolutely heartbreaking to watch all three Russian girls skate, and how they reacted in the aftermath. The coach yelling at Valieva was the worst...no, you couldn't see her mouth, but you could see her eyes above the mask, and they were not kind. She was still talking ugly to her as they sat in "kiss and cry". The child was at least hugged by someone (male, blond) in the entourage. He seemed kind and comforting, anyway. Trusova stood by herself, apparently unaware of the cameras, muttering and spitting fire as only a redhead can. She was obviously angry and upset. She did have a beautiful, albeit somewhat mechanical and un-artistic, program and whether she thought she should have won or was mad at Tutberidze for how she was treating Valieva or what, I don't know--read the story and draw your own conclusions. And poor little Schcherbakova, the gold medalist, sat all by herself, ignored and looking lost. I almost felt sorrier for her than for any of them. She obviously didn't know what she should be doing. I really wanted to reach through the screen and hug her. I have a granddaughter her age and that's what I would do if it were her.
In view of the articles I've read recently on Tutberidze's coaching methods, I also took a really close look at these girls and compared them with the other girls among the 13 finalists. All the finalists are small, but in general, most of them are relatively fairly sturdy through the butt and thighs, although Alysa Liu is pretty ethereal without looking skinny. The Japanese and Korean girls are relatively muscular. But all three of the Russian girls are so painfully thin you can almost see through them. Their arms and legs are like sticks, and I'm willing to bet that what is on their chests is padding. Take a look for yourselves. Stream this on your computer. This is child abuse. How they manage these jumps is beyond me; how they have enough muscle mass to do it is puzzling. No wonder Tutberidze's camp is rife with injury. No wonder her skaters "retire" at 17 or 18. No wonder they have eating disorders and lifelong injuries. She should be banned from the sport and tried for child abuse and trafficking of minors. But it's Russia.....
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