The Dark Side of Figure Skating: Russian Coach Eteri’s Brutal Reign, Kicking Out Athletes at 17

Discover the shocking stories of Russian figure skating coach Eteri Tutberidze.

Russia is a powerhouse in winter sports, particularly in figure skating. Behind this is Eteri Tutberidze, a figure skating coach who is known as a ruthless witch. 

Tutberidze’s goal is to produce gold medalists, and to her, figure skaters are just “objects” to be used and thrown away.

Athletes who received coaching from Tutberidze in their early teens were subjected to abuse, such as having their hair pulled and being pushed into extreme diets. 

Tutberidze would even administer morphine to injured athletes to make them unable to feel pain and send them to competitions. Moreover, she would unceremoniously kick athletes out once they turned 17, claiming their skills had declined.

Nevertheless, Tutberidze’s kingdom remained strong because she produced consecutive world rank 1 athletes. Female figure skaters coached by Tutberidze were different, able to perform a quadruple jump in the air, which was previously thought to be possible only for top male athletes. 

Even in their mid-teens, they succeeded in the quadruple jump with machine-like accuracy, earning additional points and monopolizing the world of figure skating. The secret was the hellish training, which lasted 12 hours a day, 7 days a week. 

However, the allegations of banned substances arose, as Tutberidze’s disciples showed tremendous muscle growth in a short period of time, resembling the muscular physique of Superman at an early age.

In fact, the doping suspicions reached a peak when trimetazidine, a banned substance, was detected in Kamila Valieva, who was referred to as a “record-making machine” at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. Even Thomas Bach, the chairman of the International Olympic Committee, shuddered at the vile nature of Tutberidze.

Source: Daum.