IOC President Thomas Bach joined the global bandwagon of support for Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva Friday, criticizing her entourage and questioning whether 15-year-old athletes should be put under such pressure at the Olympics.
His tone surprised Olympic observers – accustomed to hearing Bach defend Russian athletes despite the massive 2014 doping scandal – and drew a quick rebuke from Moscow.
Valieva’s emotional breakdown after a mistake-strewn skate and unforgiving questioning by her coach made millions of viewers cringe, especially after a week-long drama over her positive drug test. Bach said he felt the same way, spending much of his news conference taking rare swipes at Russia.
“I was very, very disturbed yesterday when I watched the competition on TV,” Bach said at an Olympics that began with Vladimir Putin sitting in the VIP section at the opening ceremony despite a Russian troop buildup near the Ukraine border.
Bach had direct criticism of Valieva’s entourage, saying they showed “a tremendous coldness, it was chilling to see this.”
The IOC leader did not mention Eteri Tutberidze, though he clearly targeted the preeminent coach of Russia’s dominant women’s figure skating program.
Bach’s words got him into a testy exchange with a Russian reporter. Later, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Bach “does not like the toughness of our coaches, but everyone knows that in elite sports the coach’s toughness is key to the students’ victories.”
WATCH l Valieva struggles in free skate, finishes 4th:
15-year-old Kamila Valieva struggles in free skate, finishes 4th
2 days ago
Duration 9:02
The Russian figure skater fell twice in the final skate of her controversial performance at Beijing 2022. 9:02
The endless Olympic story of unethical behaviour by Russian sports officials is casting a shadow over a fifth straight Games in Bach’s nine years as president. Many critics of the IOC say Valieva’s doping scandal is a direct result of Russia flouting the rules for decades without real punishment from the IOC.
Olympic sports have lived through a decade of Russian doping and cover-ups after the home team was caught cheating at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, a personal project of Putin. Through much of that time, the IOC and Bach made excuses for lighter than expected punishments.
Even in Beijing, Russia is technically banned from its third straight Games, but hundreds of Russian athletes are competing in their traditional colours with “Russian Olympic Committee” uniforms and flags. And they are winning medals – more than any country other than Norway.
The Bach-led IOC has consistently tried to keep Russia in the Games, citing the need to let a new generation of “clean athletes” compete as one reason not to ban Russia outright.
“This lack of leadership perpetuates athletes abuse and exposes the lack of oversight,” Rob Koehler of the Global Athlete activist group said Friday.
Trusova, 17, brings up retirement
Global reaction to the Russian teenage skaters’ tears after the women’s figure skating results seemed to change the IOC’s tone. Anna Shcherbakova won gold, Alexandra Trusova won silver, and Valieva stumbled out of the medals into fourth.
Trusova and Valieva sobbed as the scores were read, Trusova talked about retiring at 17 and viewers around the world questioned how youngsters could be put under such pressure.
Athlete mental health and safeguarding young women in sports are key responsibilities for sports bodies, and Bach had to react.
His attack on the entourage did not address the larger culture that has helped Tutberidze flourish, even as her athletes retire in their teens and suffer serious injuries. She is the International Skating Union’s coach of the year and the most powerful figure in Russian skating.
WATCH l Mental performance expert breaks down Valieva’s Olympic journey:
Mental performance expert breaks down Kamila Valieva’s Olympic journey
1 day ago
Duration 6:54
Longtime Olympic sport psychologist Peter Jensen talks to Dylan Moscovitch and Asher Hill and puts Kamila Valieva’s mental challenges in Beijing into context. 6:54
Bach also lamented the ruling in Beijing that let Valieva skate, pending the full doping investigation. Over the years, Bach has defended decisions and rulings that allowed Russian athletes continue to compete.
“The IOC always points blame at everyone else and never accepts accountability,” Koehler said.
Perhaps the most striking response to Valieva’s plight came from Bach’s home country of Germany. Katarina Witt, the last woman to win figure skating gold at two different Olympics, was tearful as she commentated on the event.
“It is so irresponsible what was done here,” said Witt who grew up as a skating phenom in authoritarian East Germany before winning Olympic gold in 1984 and ’88. “The whole world was watching and then she broke. She is 15. She’s a child.”
“There was a political pressure placed on her. I wish someone like her mother or someone responsible would have taken her out of there,” Witt said.
Proximity to Putin a regular criticism of the IOC
A regular criticism of the IOC under Bach is that it has been indulgent of Russia and too close to Putin, who is set to join Olympic sports bodies in May for part of a week-long conference in Ekaterinburg.
Minutes after Bach’s comments about Valieva’s team, a journalist wearing a Russian Olympic Committee team jacket questioned the IOC.
He asked if Bach felt partly responsible for “media chaos” around Valieva that included “hate speeches”, “bullying of a 15-year-old” and “political propaganda.”
An untypically confrontational Bach replied with “the ones who have administered this drug in her body, these are the ones who are guilty.”
Bach generally withholds comments from ongoing investigations. On Friday, he directly contradicted Valieva’s lawyers’ arguments that the sample was accidentally contaminated by her grandfather’s heart medication.
Russian anti-doping officials are responsible for the doping case, but IOC and World Anti-Doping Agency officials have said they will also investigate. Whatever the findings, expect appeals and counter investigations that stretch out for months.
DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Red Wings signed forward Lucas Raymond to an eight-year, $64.6 million contract Monday, completing a deal with one of their best young players less than 72 hours before training camp begins.
Raymond will count $8.075 million against the salary cap through 2032. The 22-year-old was a restricted free agent without a contract for the upcoming NHL season and was coming off setting career highs with 31 goals, 41 assists and 72 points.
The Red Wings have another one of those in defenceman Moritz Seider, who won the Calder Trophy as rookie of the year in 2021-22.
Detroit is looking to end an eight-year playoff drought dating to the Original Six franchise’s last appearance in 2016.
Raymond, a Swede who was the fourth pick in 2020, has 174 points in 238 games since breaking into the league.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Kirk Cousins led a flawless last-minute drive for Atlanta and connected with Drake London for a 7-yard touchdown with 34 seconds left to give the Falcons a 22-21 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles on Monday night.
Saquon Barkley dropped a short pass that stopped the clock with 1:46 left and forced the Eagles to settle for a field goal instead of a game-sealing first down. That was plenty of time for Cousins — especially against an Eagles defense playing soft coverage with a nonexistent pass rush.
The 36-year-old veteran, playing his second game since tearing his Achilles tendon last Oct. 29 while playing for Minnesota, shook off an uneven effort and hit Darnell Mooney for 21 and 26 yards on consecutive plays during the decisive drive.
Cousins found London on a short pass to his right for the tying score, and Younghoe Koo put Atlanta (1-1) on top with a 48-yard extra point after London was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct. The go-ahead drive took just 65 seconds.
Jalen Hurts had his final pass intercepted by Jessie Bates III to seal Atlanta’s win and set off a wild celebration on the sideline.
The Eagles (1-1) went ahead on Hurts’ 1-yard tush push score with 6:47 left. Barkley finished with 95 yards on 22 carries in his home debut for Philadelphia, but his drop provided the Falcons with some hope.
And then Cousins started playing like the QB Atlanta thought it was getting when it signed him to a four-year, $180 million contract.
Cousins finished 20 of 29 for 241 yards and two touchdowns. Atlanta’s first TD was a 41-yarder from Cousins to Mooney, who finished with three catches for 88 yards.
Hurts was 23 of 30 for 183 yards, including a touchdown pass to DeVonta Smith. With No. 1 receiver A.J. Brown out with a hamstring injury, Smith led the Eagles with seven catches for 76 yards and a score.
Jake Elliott kicked two field goals for the Eagles. His 28-yarder with 1:39 left made it 21-15.
Atlanta kept stalling in the red zone, getting three field goals from Koo, before Cousins fired over the middle to Mooney, who shook loose from C.J. Gardner-Johnson and left him on the turf before he somersaulted into the end zone with 1:21 left in the third quarter for a 15-10 lead. Cousins failed on the 2-point conversion pass.
Hurts had some juice in his step during a second-quarter TD drive, running with abandon for big plays much like he did in the 2022 season. He spiked the ball in a rare, raw show of emotion on a 23-yard run, earning a delay-of-game penalty. He shrugged off the 5-yard setback and scrambled for 9 yards and 15 yards to move the Eagles to Atlanta’s 19.
With comedian Shane Gillis and actor Bradley Cooper among the fans cheering on the Eagles, Hurts connected with Smith in the back of the end zone for a 7-yard TD that made it 7-3.
Under new defensive coordinator Vince Fangio, the Eagles have established an early knack for allowing long drives that end with three points instead of seven. Koo kicked field goals of 39, 22 and 34 yards, the last one enough for a 9-7 lead in the third quarter. In their opener, the Eagles held the Packers to just three field goals when they drove inside the 20.
Questionable call
Rather than take a chip-shot field goal from Elliott, the Eagles’ fourth-and-4 gamble at Atlanta’s 9-yard line in the first quarter failed when Hurts threw an incomplete pass.
Elliott kicked a 29-yarder with 4:31 left in the third quarter for a 10-9 lead.
Running wild
Bijan Robinson ran for 97 yards for the Falcons. The Eagles stuffed him late on fourth-and-1 at the Atlanta 39.
Barkley was quiet until the go-ahead drive, a week after he rushed for 109 yards and scored three touchdowns against Green Bay. Eagles fans booed when the opening drive of the game ended without Barkley touching the ball. They went wild when he had consecutive 9-yard runs to open the second drive. Barkley had 40 yards rushing in the first half.
Foles honored
Former Eagles QB Nick Foles, who led the franchise to its only Super Bowl title, served as an honorary captain and led the crowd in a rendition of “Fly, Eagles, Fly.”
Injuries
The Falcons played without LB Nate Landman (calf, quad).
Up next
Atlanta hosts Super Bowl champion Kansas City on Sunday.
TORONTO – Singles star Leylah Fernandez and doubles specialist Gabriela Dabrowski will anchor Canada’s five-player lineup when the team tries to defend its Billie Jean King Cup title in mid-November.
The 26th-ranked Fernandez, the 2021 U.S. Open finalist from Laval, Que., is the lone Canadian in the top 100 of the WTA Tour’s singles rankings.
Dabrowski, from Ottawa, is ranked fourth on the doubles list. The 2023 U.S. Open women’s doubles champion won mixed doubles bronze with Felix Auger-Aliassime at the recent Paris Olympics.
Marina Stakusic of Mississauga, Ont., returns after a breakout performance last year, capped by her singles win in Canada’s 2-0 victory over Italy in the final. Vancouver’s Rebecca Marino is also back and Bianca Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion from Mississauga, Ont., returns to the squad for the first time since 2022.
“Winning the Billie Jean King Cup in 2023 was a dream come true for us, and not only that, but I feel like we made a statement to the world about the strength of this nation when it comes to tennis,” Canada captain Heidi El Tabakh said Monday in a release. “Once again, we have a very strong team this year with Bianca joining Leylah, Gaby, Rebecca and Marina, making it an extremely powerful team that is more than capable of going all the way.
“At the end of the day, our goal is to make Canada proud, and we’ll do our best to bring the same level of effort and excitement that we had in last year’s finals.”
Fernandez, who beat Jasmine Paolini to clinch Canada’s first-ever title at the competition, is ranked No. 42 in doubles.
Canada, which received an automatic berth as defending champion, will play the winner of the first-round tie between Great Britain and Germany on Nov. 17 at Malaga’s Martin Carpena Arena.
Australia, Italy and wild-card entry Czechia also received first-round byes. The tournament, which continues through Nov. 20, also includes host Spain, Slovakia, the United States, Poland, Japan and Romania.
Stakusic is up 27 spots to No. 128 in the latest world singles rankings. Marino is at No. 134 and Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion, is ranked 167th.
Canada will look to become the first team since Czechia in 2016 to successfully defend its Billie Jean King Cup title.
Malaga will also host the Nov. 19-24 Davis Cup Final 8. The Canadian men qualified over the weekend with a 2-1 victory over Great Britain in Manchester.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
