Russian figure skater Adeliia Petrosian said she is feeling “excellent” after a practice session at the Winter Olympics on Monday with her controversial coach, seemingly dispelling injury concerns.
Petrosian was joined by coach Eteri Tutberidze for a half-hour session at the practice rink next to the venue where she will compete in the women’s short program Tuesday against the likes of Amber Glenn and Alysa Liu.
“Mood is excellent,” Petrosian said when asked how she was feeling after the skate.
Petrosian seemed comfortable on the ice as she rehearsed her free skate routine and landed numerous clean triple jumps. After finishing her program she had a couple falls on jumps late in the session but seemed unshaken.
Petrosian is due to compete as an “individual neutral athlete” at the Milan Cortina Olympics due to restrictions on Russia’s participation during its war in Ukraine.
She’s only competed once in a senior competition outside of Russia and her fitness had been uncertain following comments about injuries last month in a recent Russian documentary.
The International Skating Union vetted Petrosian before granting her neutral status for the Olympic qualifier she won in September, when Tutberidze wasn’t listed in her entourage.
The International Olympic Committee manages coaches’ accreditations for the Olympics, where Tutberidze is also present as a coach for a Georgian men’s skater.
The ISU said in a statement issued during Petrosian’s practice that it had “a robust series of protocols” covering the vetting of athletes and coaches for the qualifiers.
“The Olympic Winter Games and related rules are the responsibility of the IOC,” the ISU added.
The IOC said Tutberidze was at the Games as a coach for Georgia and indicated she won’t be rink-side when Petrosian skates in competition.
“As at all Olympic Games, during training, figure skating athletes are able to seek guidance from other coaches that they know well,” the IOC said in an e-mailed statement. “During the actual competition, the athletes may only be coached by their accredited team officials.”
Tutberidze has coached numerous Russian women’s skating champions including Kamila Valieva, whose doping case overshadowed the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. Then-IOC President Thomas Bach was critical of the “coldness” displayed by Valieva’s entourage toward the skater, who was 15 at the time, when she missed the podium.
The World Anti-Doping Agency’s president said this month that an investigation found no evidence Tutberidze was implicated in Valieva’s doping case but that he was personally not “comfortable with her presence here in the Olympic Games.”
