Figure skater Tursynbaeva’s mother considers decision in Valieva’s case political

Padishakhan Sultanalieva, the mother of the vice-world champion in figure skating Elisabeth Tursynbaeva from Kazakhstan, in a conversation with , expressed the opinion that Kamila Valieva would be acquitted when the political situation in the world changes.

On January 29, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) approved a 4-year suspension of Russian figure skater Valieva for doping and canceled her sports results from December 25, 2021. Tursynbaeva and Valieva are students of the coach Eteri Tutberidze.

— I would like to support the team of our coaches against the background of the unpleasant story with Kamila. This is all just big politics. I believe that as soon as peace is restored in the world, the fighting will stop and everything will return to normal. Then Kamila will be acquitted, everything will be fine.

Without the sanctions, I think that over the last two years Eteri Georgievna would have already won so many medals! We must give Russian athletes the opportunity to perform as before. Eteri Georgievna is a great patriot. She could go anywhere, work abroad on favorable terms. But she stayed and opened her own school here, because she also really likes Russia. Love sincerely. She doesn’t see her future anywhere else, so she is patiently waiting for all these sanctions to end and her students to finally make her happy at the international level,” Sultanalieva told .

Under the leadership of Tutberidze, Tursanbyeva won a silver medal at the World Championships in 2019. In the fall of 2020, the athlete announced her retirement from her sports career due to health problems.