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"Estonian Anti-Doping and Sports Ethics Foundation (EADSE) has received petitions from former students and parents alleging figure skating trainer Anna [Kondrashova] Levandi of mental and physical abuse. Elite coach Levandi conceded she is not perfect but termed most of the claims slanderous and absurd."
ERR News -- English-language service of Estonian Public Broadcasting -- article (February 21, 2024):
ETA #2 - link to the original article in Estonian (includes clips from the Levandi interview):
ERR News -- English-language service of Estonian Public Broadcasting -- article (February 21, 2024):
Former students accuse figure skating coach Anna Levandi of abuse
Estonian Anti-Doping and Sports Ethics Foundation (EADSE) has received petitions from former students and parents alleging figure skating trainer Anna Levandi of mental and physical abuse. Elite coach Levandi conceded she is not perfect but termed most of the claims slanderous and absurd.
news.err.ee
EADSE forwarded the information to the Estonian Skating Union (ESU), which replied that the matter had been taken up, but it was decided to leave it to the federation's board. "We have established a committee to hear from all parties involved to resolve the complaint," Maire Arm, the president of the ESU, wrote to ERR. "It would be premature to talk about the outcome of the process at this time, but we are working within the ESU to provide clarification as soon as possible."
The first written complaint against Levandi was received just before Christmas. "And then there were more complaints, but we had heard such signals before as well," she said.
Henn Vallimäe, a member of the EADSE board, told ERR that according the information they have received, the ESU wants to resolve the issue in-house: "This is a decision of a sports union, and there is nothing exceptional about it."
"It's a question of possible abusive behavior by an elite coach, and our position is that we see a problem with it," Vallimäe added.
"It is serious because it is an accusation against a very high-ranking, highly respected, and esteemed coach. There have always been such conflicts with younger or less experienced coaches, but this is an exceptionally distinguished trainer."
Vallimäe emphasized that the injury does not have to be physical, and that what is important is whether there is a pattern to the individual episodes. "It's an assessment of a pattern of behavior, whether it's within the boundaries of the coach's code of ethics, the kind of behavior described in the coach's code of ethics."
Pealtnägijaga ('Eyewitness') is a widely watched Estonian investigative journalism television program and I believe this story will be broadcast tonight (ETA link to watch the first 20 mins. of Season 25 Episode 891 - includes an interview with Anna Levandi): https://etv.err.ee/1609247576/pealtnagijaAccording to ERR, several of the cases involve Eva-Lotta Kiibus, who has trained under Levandi for 12 years. According to a statement submitted to EADSE, Levandi increased the training load at the beginning of the Olympic season, and the skater's legs could not cope, leading to nerve damage that required surgery after the Olympics. "We took a week off in the summer, but it wasn't enough to get our legs back on track and make it through the season. On top of that, there was constant pressure not to tell anyone that something was wrong with you. But when my leg wouldn't stand up because of pain during training, she would yell at me and humiliate me. She also advised me to go to the doctors less, because the pain should be between the ears, and the doctors make you sicker with their nagging."
The severity of the inflammation was also confirmed to ERR by the athlete's physiotherapist.
ETA #2 - link to the original article in Estonian (includes clips from the Levandi interview):
Endised õpilased süüdistavad iluuisutreener Anna Levandit väärkohtlemises
Eesti Antidopingu ja Spordieetika (EADSE) sihtasutusele on laekunud avaldused, kus endised õpilased ja lapsevanemad süüdistavad tuntud iluuisutreenerit Anna Levandit vaimses ja füüsilises väärkohtlemises. Eliittreeneri kategooriat omav Levandi tunnistas, et pole treenerina veatu, kuid nimetas...
sport.err.ee
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