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WADA Chief Calls Tutberidze's Presence at Milan Olympics Unsettling, Not Prohibited

He says probes cleared her of violations, underscoring a gap between legal standards and athlete welfare concerns.

Overview

  • Eteri Tutberidze is accredited at the Milan-Cortina Games with Georgia as the coach of European champion Nika Egadze.
  • WADA president Witold Banka said he feels uncomfortable with Tutberidze being at the Olympics but noted investigations found no legal basis to exclude her.
  • International Testing Agency director-general Benjamin Cohen said Tutberidze was not found to have committed an anti-doping violation and emphasized automatic entourage probes when minors are involved.
  • Anti-doping and eligibility rules have been tightened since the Valieva case, including mandatory entourage investigations in cases involving minors and a minimum Olympic skating age of 17.
  • Her route into the Games through Georgian accreditation highlights vetting and neutrality loopholes, with reports that the ISU intervened when she attempted to coach Russian skater Adeliia Petrosian during qualifiers.