'Coaches hit me with pads' - 2018 champion Aljona Savchenko opens up on skating trauma - Winter Olympics

ByEurosport

Published 19/02/2022 at 08:31 GMT

The controversy around Kamila Valieva has started a wider debate about figure skating. In a raw, emotive interview with Eurosport, 2018 pairs skating champion Aljona Savchenko has opened up about some traumatic experiences in her career, which took her to the very top of the sport, and says there "needs to be more professionalism when dealing with children".

Aljona Savchenko, one of the world’s most decorated pair skaters and a gold medallist in Pyeongchang four years ago, has opened up on some of the traumatic events she experienced during her career.

Savchenko was pairs champion alongside Bruno Massot in 2018 and won three Olymic medals in total as well as countless World and European trophies.

On Friday she spoke of how she cried at seeing Kamila Valieva miss out on a medal in the ladies' singles, as well as reprimanding coach Eteri Tutberidze for not "even giving her a hug" when Valieva came off the ice, in a response which also drew criticism from IOC president Thomas Bach.

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Valieva, 15, missed out on a medal after falling during her free skating routine, having topped the leaderboard at the start of the final day of competition. It was a sad end to a tremendously difficult Olympic Games which has seen Valieva at the centre of a doping controversy after it was revealed that she had tested positive for a banned substance on December 25.

Valieva may yet lose the gold medal she won in the team event, pending a second ruling from the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

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Savchenko strongly believes change is needed and with Valieva’s entourage set to be investigated in line with IOC protocols, she wants the situation involving the Russian teenager to be used to ignite further debate about the future of coaching young, talented athletes.

Former figure skater Adam Rippon told Eurosport this week that he wanted the minimum competition age to be raised to 18, with IOC president Bach saying it would be looked at. Savchenko says additional care must be taken when it comes to looking after children in elite sport.

"You put so much trust in that person, you give your body, your life," she said on Eurosport. "And when you have a dream of winning the Olympics, you give it your all. And you listen to your trainer. Maybe that’s also a sign that something needs to change. If this hadn’t happened, things would just go on like this. There needs to be more professionalism when dealing with children.

“There must be well-trained coaches - professionally, especially in the mental area. And there must be more teamwork, only as a team can you achieve great goals. I know Kamila’s mom and I also spoke to her. That’s a down-to-earth woman who wants the best for her child and gives everything for it. I don’t know how much influence she has on the team. I can’t tell what the coach is like, I just observed her. That was enough for me.”

Speaking on Eurosport in Germany, Savchenko shone a light on some of the issues around figure skating's wider culture as she recounted some dark moments in her early career.

“I had coaches who would hit me on the head with pads if I did any elements badly," she said. "I’ve had coaches shooting water pistols in the cold ice rink. I’ve had coaches who gave us little food. Sometimes it was like a punishment: get up in the morning, first weigh yourself, then eat a little, have a salad for lunch, and nothing at all in the evening,” she said.

"There were times where we were hungry. We secretly asked for food in the canteen, stole something here and there and ate in hiding. There was no other way. Yes, you have to be disciplined if you want to achieve something. But you also have to know your limits. How far do I actually go?

"There was also a trainer who forced me to train, even though my body couldn’t do it. We are human beings and not machines.”

Savchenko admits she reached a stage where she knew how she was being treated was not right, and the 2018 Olympic champion recounted exchanges with a former coach.

“‘You have to lose weight. You’re too fat!’ [a former coach said]," added Savchenko. "I said, ‘Okay, how am I supposed to lose weight?’ They said, ‘If you eat, you throw up. You just put two fingers in your mouth.’

"Fortunately, at that point I was already aware that I wasn’t allowed to be treated like that. Of course, children who are 13, 14 or 15 go along with it.”

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The Olympic Games will return with Paris 2024, live on Eurosport and discovery+

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