.jpg) Tutberidze in 2018 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Native name | ეთერი გიორგის ასული თუთბერიძე / Этери Гогиевна Тутберидзе |
| Full name | Eteri Georgievna Tutberidze |
| Born | (1974-02-24)24 February 1974 (age 51) |
| Figure skating career | |
| Skating club | Sambo 70 (SDUSSHOR 37) |
| Began skating | c. 1978 |
Eteri Georgievna Tutberidze (Georgian: ეთერი გიორგის ასული თუთბერიძე;Russian:Этери Георгиевна Тутберидзе;[1][2] born 24 February 1974) is a Georgian-Russianfigure skating coach who works mainly with femalesingle skaters. She is head coach at the Sambo 70 skating club inMoscow. She has coached several Russian skaters to success in international competitions, including 2022 Olympic and 2021 World championAnna Shcherbakova, 2022 Olympic silver medalist and two-time Junior World championAlexandra Trusova, 2020 Junior World championKamila Valieva, 2020 European ChampionAlena Kostornaia, 2018 Olympic and 2019 World championAlina Zagitova, two-time World champion and 2018 Olympic silver medalistEvgenia Medvedeva, and 2014 Olympic Team championYulia Lipnitskaya.
Eteri Georgievna Tutberidze was born 24 February 1974 inMoscow.[3][4] The youngest of five children, she is half-Georgian, a quarterRussian, and a quarterArmenian.[5] Her mother was a senior engineer at the Ministry of Agricultural Construction and her father worked at theLikhachev plant's foundry and as a taxi driver.[6]
Tutberidze studied at the Academy of Physical Education in Malakhovka and has received a degree in choreography from the Institute of Contemporary Art.[6] During her six years in the United States, she lived inOklahoma City,Cincinnati,Los Angeles, andSan Antonio.[5] Her daughter,Diana, was born on 16 January 2003[7] inLas Vegas.[5] Diana was coached by her mother as a single skater until 2016 when, at the insistence of her mother, she opted forice dance.[8]
Tutberidze began skating at the age of four and a half, guided by Evgenia Zelikova and thenEdouard Pliner.[6] After sustaining a spinal fracture and growing 22 cm, she switched from singles toice dancing. She was coached by Lidia Kabanova for two years and then joinedElena Tchaikovskaya, who paired her with Vyacheslav Chichekin.[6] After briefly training underNatalia Linichuk, Tutberidze switched to Gennady Akkerman, her coach for the next three years. She skated with Alexei Kiliakov until he emigrated to the United States.[6]
During the 1991–1992 season, Tutberidze trained underTatiana Tarasova before deciding to perform in ice shows.[6] Appearing as an adagio pair skater withNikolai Apter, she toured withIce Capades for several years.[5][6]
She worked in ice shows in the US for six years in the 1990s, including in Oklahoma at the time of the1995 Oklahoma City bombing, for which she received compensation as a survivor.[9]
Tutberidze began coaching inSan Antonio, Texas.[5][6] After returning to Russia, she coached at several Moscow rinks, including a hockey rinkSerebrianyi, where ice time was limited for figure skaters.[10] She then moved to Sambo 70 (SDUSSHOR 37) in Moscow, where she collaborates withSergei Dudakov andDaniil Gleikhengauz.[11][12][13]
| External videos | |
|---|---|
 AssortedVKvideos of Eteri Tutberidze students |
→2023 and2024 Russian junior champion, 1st at Russian Jumping Figure Skating Championships 2024 →2024 Russian junior champion, 1st at Russian Jumping Figure Skating Championships 2024Russia 2018–2025, 2020 World Junior champion, 2019-20 Junior Grand Prix Final champion, 2021 Skate Canada International and 2021 Rostelecom Cup champion, 2020 Russian Junior Champion, 2021 Russian silver medalist.Russia 2016-2025, 2019-20 Junior Grand prix Final bronze medalist, 2019 and 2020 Russian junior champion, 2019 JGP Latvia bronze medalist and 2019 JGP Poland champoin, 2024 Channel One Trophy champion. (as a single skater) (as a child)[10] (as a single skater) (as a single skater)[17][18] (from age four[19] until July 2012), two-time JGP Final silver medalist.[20][21] (from 2009 until November 2015), 2014 European champion, 2014 Olympic champion in the team event, 2014 World silver medalist. (during 2014–2015 season),[22] 2015 World Junior silver medalist, 2014–2015 JGP Final silver medalist.[12] (until March 2016), 2014 World Junior silver medalist, 2013–14 JGP Final silver medalist. (until 2016 as a single skater, daughter of Eteri Tutberidze) (from mid-2013 until March 2016),[23] 2014 European silver medalist, 2014–2015 GP Final bronze medalist. JGP event silver medalist at two JGP events, qualified for 2016-17 JGP Final. (during 2016-2017 season) (until July 2018), JGP event gold and silver medalist, qualified for 2017-18 JGP Final.[24] 2016 Youth Olympic champion, 2015–16 JGP Final champion. (during 2017-2018 season), 2017–18 JGP Final bronze medalist. (during 2018-2019 season) (as a child) (during 2018-2019 season) (as a single skater) (until July 2020),2018 Junior World champion.[25] (during 2019-2020 season),2018-19 JGP Final bronze medalist. (until May 2021)
(2012-2013, June 2018 - September 2021),2019 World silver medalist,2019 Four Continents silver medalist,2019 Winter Universiade silver medalist.[26]2013–14 Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final junior ladies bronze medalist,2014 World Junior Figure Skating Championships bronze medalist,2014–15 Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final junior ladies champion,2015 World Junior Figure Skating Championships champion,2015–16 Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final ladies champion,2016 World Figure Skating Championships champion,2016 European champion,2016–17 Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final ladies champion,2017 World Figure Skating Championships champion,2017 European champion,2018 Olympic Games team silver medalist, women's singles silver medalist.[27] (2017–2020, March 2021–March 2022),2020 European champion,2019 Grand Prix Final champion,2018 Junior Grand Prix Final champion,2018 Junior World silver medalist[28] (2016–May 2020, May 2021–October 2022)[29]2022 Olympic silver medalist, European bronze medalist (2020, European silver medalist2022),2019 Grand Prix Final bronze medalist,2022 Russian champion,2019 Russian silver medalist,2020 Russian bronze medalist, Two-time Junior World champion (2018,2019),2017 Junior Grand Prix Final champion, Two-time Russian Junior champion (2018,2019).[30]
2020 European bronze medalist,2021 Rostelecom Cup champion, Two-time Rostelecom Cup silver medalist (2018,2020),2018 and2022 Olympian,2022 Worlds 4th place[31] (2016–2023),2021 Skate America silver medalist,2020 World Junior silver medalist,2019 Junior Grand Prix Final bronze medalist,2020 Russian Junior silver medalist,2021 Russian Senior Championships 4th place (April 2021– November 2023)2022 European silver medalists,2021 Skate America champions,2021 NHK Trophy silver medalists,2022 Russian &2023 Russian bronze medalists,2022 Winter Olympics silver medalists (until February 2020, rejoined in 2021 after JGP series) → 4th at2019 JGP France.[32]Tutberidze's coaching methods have been criticized by fans, journalists and skaters, especially in the wake of Kamila Valieva's doping scandal at the2022 Beijing Olympics.[33] The knowledge of the Sambo-70 club encouraging dehydration,[34][35] starvation[36][37] and unchanged practice regime despite injuries[38][39] had been public even before Beijing, and critics had also noticed Tutberidze's students regularly retiring with serious injuries before the age of 18.[40][41] Several of her male students, such asDaniil Samsonov andAdian Pitkeev, also suffered serious injuries under her training.
Valieva's doping controversy during the Olympics in 2022 saw a new wave of critical articles[42][43] and figure skaters speaking out, withRomain Haguenauer, who coaches inMontreal, claiming that Tutberidze's training is "abusive, military even" and that "she wouldn't be allowed near children" if she used those practices in Montreal as a coach.[44] ChoreographerBenoît Richaud also spoke about the unsustainability of those methods and shortened careers.[45] Figure skatersAdam Rippon andKatarina Witt publicly expressed support for Valieva, claiming that "adults around her have completely failed her" (Rippon) and that "the responsible adults should be banned from the sport forever" (Witt).[46][47]
IOCpresidentThomas Bach expressed concern for Valieva's wellbeing, commenting "[Valieva] was received by her closest entourage with what appeared to be a tremendous coldness, it was chilling to see this, rather than giving her comfort, rather than to try to help her."[48] PresidentVladimir Putin'sspokespersonDmitry Peskov called Bach's comments "deeply inappropriate", stating that "the harshness of a coach in high-level sport is key for their athletes to achieve victories."[49]
Additionally, it has been noted by several critics and observers that it is common for Tutberidze to lash out at students who have left her academy for other coaches.[50]
