The key facts

  • Averbukh called it a stupid opinion that Valieva returned to the sport in vain
  • On October 19 it became known that Valieva had returned to Eteri Tutberidze
  • The neutral status from the ISU, granted in August, was withdrawn in September

Averbukh stood up for Valieva

Olympic silver medalist in ice dancing, choreographer and program designer Ilya Averbukh criticized the view that figure skater Kamila Valieva returned to the sport in vain. “It seems to me that this is a stupid opinion. She was and remains an outstanding figure skater. There are simply certain circumstances that have befallen her and greatly prevent her from showing worthy results. I am very glad that she is continuing her career. Right now the task of all of us is to support her as much as possible,” Averbukh said in a comment to Sport24, which is cited by Gazeta.Ru.

Context: the return to Tutberidze and her status

On October 19 it became known that Valieva had left Svetlana Sokolovskaya’s group and returned to Eteri Tutberidze, with whom she trained before her disqualification for violating anti-doping rules and with whom she won all of her medals. Her work with Sokolovskaya became known in 2025, even before the disqualification ended, and the switch was officially announced in October; on October 18, a post featuring Valieva’s training sessions appeared on Sokolovskaya’s team Telegram channel.

Uncertainty over her status and the Grand Prix

At the same time, the question of the athlete’s eligibility remains unresolved. In August, Valieva received neutral status from the International Skating Union (ISU), but in September it was withdrawn. The Court of Arbitration for Sport reported that it had not received Valieva’s appeal against the ISU decision. On October 15, the figure skater announced her withdrawal from the Russian Grand Prix stage in Kazan due to illness, and later information emerged that she might miss the entire Grand Prix series. It is precisely these circumstances, judging by Averbukh’s words, that prevent her from “showing worthy results” — though he did not specify which ones, and the publication contains no data on Valieva’s prospects for competing this season.