MOSCOW (AP) — Russian President Vladimir Putin awarded determine skating coach Eteri Tutberidze one of many nation’s highest honors Monday, practically a 12 months after a doping case involving one in all her high skaters overshadowed the Winter Olympics.
A presidential decree dated Jan. 26 however printed Monday lists Tutberidze, 48, amongst three individuals awarded the Order of Alexander Nevsky “for guaranteeing the profitable coaching of athletes who achieved excessive sporting accomplishments” on the Winter Olympics in Beijing in Feb. 2022.
Tutberidze has coached a collection of main skaters together with 2018 Olympic champion Alina Zagitova and 2022 gold medalist Anna Shcherbakova. However, she has confronted scrutiny over the comparatively quick careers of her teenaged skaters and a excessive fee of accidents.
Tutberidze-trained skater Kamila Valieva was a favourite for the gold medal forward of the Beijing Olympics, and helped the Russian group win gold in the group occasion earlier than a doping take a look at taken earlier than the Games got here again optimistic. She was allowed to skate in the ladies’s competitors on attraction and positioned fourth.
As the 15-year-old left the ice, Tutberidze questioned her, asking why she had “let it go”. International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach later mentioned he had been “disturbed” by what he had seen.
The World Anti-Doping Agency mentioned final month it was contemplating interesting Valieva’s case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport after a Russian disciplinary panel declined to impose a ban. The uncertainty over the outcomes implies that no medal ceremony has but been held for the Olympic group occasion one 12 months on.
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