The way Eteri Tutberidze treats her students is simply not ok.

Please go to minute 18:00-21:00 of this video to see her chasing Alina Zagitova around the rink, cursing and yelling at her, until it ends with Alina in tears.

And somehow this is being treated as entertainment on television?! If this is indeed going to be broadcast, it should be to EXPOSE Eteri for treating her students so harshly and letting the world be the judge of it. Instead, we are given a dub by a woman who was clearly told to “go off” with an angry tone to shock and titillate the audience… into watching a teenage Olympic gold medalist break down in tears during training while dramatic music plays in the background. What is this sport coming to? Are we seriously glorifying abuse on national television?

Please compare this to videos of athletes training with Rafael Arutyunyan and the Toronto Cricket and Curling Club. You do not see anything like this type of behavior - motivation via fear and tears. We all know that things are difficult behind-the-scenes for any top athlete, but I can’t even imagine how much worse it must be for Alina when the cameras are not around.

Can I remind everyone that this is real life, not a tv show, anime, or made-for-tv movie? This is unacceptable. It normalizes abuse and treats it as entertainment.