The icy glare of controversy is back on Olympic ice, as the 2026 Winter Games in Milan Cortina find themselves at the center of a renewed debate over coaching ethics, athlete welfare, and the lingering shadow of doping scandals in figure skating. Eteri Tutberidze, the Russian-Georgian coach whose name has become synonymous with both Olympic glory and sporting controversy, is once again under the spotlight—this time for her proximity to 18-year-old prodigy Adeliia Petrosian, a neutral athlete representing neither Russia nor Georgia, but very much a product of Tutberidze’s polarizing system.
On February 17, 2026, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) confirmed that Tutberidze will not be permitted any formal involvement with Petrosian during the women’s singles figure skating competition. The reason? Petrosian’s status as a ‘neutral’ athlete—a designation imposed on Russian competitors in the wake of ongoing sanctions and scrutiny—means only accredited team officials can coach her during competition. The ruling comes after Tutberidze was seen alongside Petrosian at practice, despite being accredited for the Games as a coach for the Georgian delegation. According to the IOC, while athletes can seek guidance from familiar coaches during training, competition rules are far stricter: “During the actual competition, the athletes may only be coached by their accredited team officials.”
This development has reignited debate about Tutberidze’s influence and the broader culture of Russian figure skating. Tutberidze, who has coached a string of Olympic champions—Yulia Lipnitskaya in 2014, Alina Zagitova and Evgenia Medvedeva in 2018, and Kamila Valieva in 2022—has built a reputation for producing prodigies at a remarkable rate. Yet, her methods have drawn sharp criticism for years. Her athletes’ careers often burn bright and fast, with many forced into early retirement due to injury or physical strain—a phenomenon dubbed the “Eteri expiration date.”
“Eteri’s students never live past 18,” figure skating expert Nelson Monfort remarked in 2022. “They arrive one moment and disappear the next…they’re like disposable tissues, used for a year or two and then thrown away.” The evidence is hard to ignore: Zagitova retired just a year after Olympic gold, Medvedeva stepped away due to chronic back injuries, and Lipnitskaya left the sport at 19 following a battle with anorexia. Even Darya Usacheva, a junior world silver medalist, retired at just 16 after suffering a debilitating injury.
The scrutiny of Tutberidze reached fever pitch at the 2022 Beijing Olympics, when 15-year-old Kamila Valieva, widely considered one of the sport’s greatest talents, tested positive for a banned substance. The fallout was seismic. Valieva’s Olympic dream ended in tears and a four-year ban, while the Russian Olympic Committee team was stripped of its gold medals. Tutberidze, though a central figure in Valieva’s entourage, was not found guilty by any sanctioning body. Nevertheless, her presence in Milan has stirred unease among officials and observers alike.
Witold Banka, president of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), did not mince words when asked about Tutberidze’s presence at the Games. “The coach is here. An investigation found no evidence that this particular person engaged in a doping process so there is no legal basis to exclude her from the Olympic Games. But, of course, if you ask my personal feeling, I don’t feel comfortable with her presence here at the Olympic Games.”
The concern is not without precedent. Thomas Bach, former IOC president, famously described Tutberidze’s attitude toward a distraught Valieva at the 2022 Games as “chilling to see” and an act of “tremendous coldness.” And two-time Olympic champion Katarina Witt called for the “responsible adults” in Valieva’s case to be “banned from the sport forever.”
Critics argue that the problem goes beyond any single doping case. Reports have circulated for years about Tutberidze’s controversial training methods, including strict dietary controls, overtraining, and even attempts to delay puberty through medical intervention. “It is the little girl bodies that allow that type of rotation to happen,” Olympic champion Robin Cousins observed in 2022, referencing the technical demands of quadruple jumps that have become the hallmark of Tutberidze’s skaters. Skaters have described needing to be “dry” and light for competition, with some reports alleging the use of powdered nutrients or puberty blockers. The International Skating Union (ISU) responded to these concerns by raising the minimum age for senior competition to 17, aiming to protect child athletes from excessive physical and psychological demands.
Despite the controversy, Tutberidze’s influence endures. This month, she is back at the Olympics, accredited through the Georgian federation, coaching both Georgian and Russian athletes. Her latest star, Adeliia Petrosian, is the only skater in the women’s field capable of landing a quadruple jump and a triple axel—a testament to the technical revolution Tutberidze has driven in the sport. Petrosian, who reportedly battled a groin injury in January, appeared upbeat at Monday’s final practice. “The mood is excellent,” she told reporters through a translator, even as several falls during training left onlookers wondering if history might repeat itself.
Petrosian’s connection to Tutberidze has not escaped notice. Although officially coached by Daniil Gleikhengauz, who also choreographed for Valieva, Petrosian shares the same training site and coaching team that produced both triumph and scandal. Juliet Macur of the New York Times reported, “Tutberidze is not listed as Petrosian’s coach; it is Daniil Gleikhengauz… But she was at the practice rink on Monday when Petrosian skated, looking very much like her coach.” While Petrosian has never tested positive for doping, the association with Valieva’s team has raised questions about oversight and the potential for history to repeat itself.
Tutberidze herself remains unapologetic about her coaching philosophy. When asked to describe her approach, she said, “Living the days with the maximum benefit for business…give every particular day all your strength. Leave nothing for tomorrow which can be done today. Why? Because it is such ‘desperate’ skaters who seriously want to change their lives, who work with amazing seriousness.”
For now, the drama continues to unfold on the ice. On Tuesday, Petrosian delivered an impressive program to qualify for the free skate, demonstrating both her technical prowess and her resilience in the face of extraordinary scrutiny. As the women’s singles competition gets underway, the world will be watching—not just for the jumps and spins, but for what this moment says about the future of figure skating and the boundaries of coaching influence at the highest level.
With the Olympic spotlight shining brighter than ever, the question lingers: can the sport move beyond its troubled past, or will the ghosts of old scandals continue to haunt the rink? For Petrosian, Tutberidze, and the figure skating world, the next chapter is being written in Milan—one leap, one controversy, and one dazzling performance at a time.